The Minister of National Defence, Corneliu Dobritoiu and the chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Stefan Danila, visited Timisoara garrison, on 8 June.

The two officials visited the military facilities of the 18th 'Banat' Infantry Brigade and the 712th Helicopter Squadron, had meetings with active duty and reserve military personnel of the garrison.

Brigadier General Gheorghe Simina, commander of the 18th Infantry Brigade, briefed the ministry leadership on the unit missions and measures taken with a view to future participations in the theaters of operations.

Minister Corneliu Dobritoiu appreciated the experience of the troops of the Joint Romanian-Hungarian Peacekeeping Battalion that conducted ten exercises so far. He stated that this military cooperation is a means of showing the interoperability of the professional structures in terms of NATO standards.

The defence minister congratulated the troops of Timisoara for their successful missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, reassuring them of the support of the military leadership so that they should be able to meet their goals.

At the 712th Helicopter Squadron, the minister of national defence and the chief of the General Staff were briefed on the combat training, search and rescue and medevac activities the unit personnel carried out.

The Ministry of National Defence officials` updating visit is one of the series that started in Buzau garrison and continued in Caracal, Cluj-Napoca and Campia Turzii.

MoND Press Office