The Department for Defence Policy and Planning organized at the National Military Club, on Friday, 29 June, the Romanian-US Joint Committee meeting on implementation of the Romanian-US Agreement concerning activities of US forces stationed in Romania signed in Bucharest, on 6 December, 2005 and of the Agreement between the USA and Romania on the Deployment of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania signed in Washington, on 13 September 2011.
The Romanian delegation, headed by the State Secretary for Defence Policy and Planning, Mr. Sebastian Huluban, consisted of experts and officials from the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism.
Bogdan Aurescu, State Secretary for Strategic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was invited to take part in the activity.
The US delegation was headed by Major General Mark O. Schissler, Director, Plans and Policy, Headquarters U.S. European Command, (US EUCOM) and included experts and officials from US EUCOM, USAREUR, USAFE, MDA and the US Embassy to Bucharest.
The Romanian and American officials reviewed the activities conducted since their last meeting in December 2011, the lessons learned from this year's bilateral and multinational training exercises in the facilities and areas available to the American partner through the Access Agreement. The participants were briefed on the present situation and the perspectives of the American partner's building projects in the convened facilities and areas and in Deveselu military base.
Another topic on the meeting agenda was the use of Mihail Kogalniceanu Air base and the Constanta port as central logistic points for the transiting US military materials on their way to Afghanistan and other areas of operations.
During the meeting, the two co-chairmen of the Joint Committee signed two new documents regulating the use of land around the Deveselu Base and the utilization of the air space above and around the Deveselu Base, as well as three amendments to the Implementating Arrangements agreed upon in 2007 and 2008, based on the Access Agreement, concerning the work of the Joint Committee, transport security and real estate management.
On this occasion, the American co-chairman thanked for the incredible progress and impressive efforts made in such a short time in order to finish the five Implementing Agreements signed on that occasion. He said it was not an easy task and that it was a model worth following.
The Romanian co-chairman in turn, said that the meeting was a concrete way of showing the high level of trust and impressive cooperation between our armed forces, our ministries, our defence institutions, representing an important contribution to the development of the strategic partnership with the USA and to the ensuring European and Euro-Atlantic security.
The two co-chairmen of the Joint Committee established the fields in which talks will continue at expert level, concerning drafting and negotiating new implementation agreements, amending some of the previous agreements, that would create the legal and technical framework for the implementation of the Agreement between the USA and Romania on the Deployment of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania.

MoND Press Office