The General Staff organized a symposium to celebrate 153 years since its establishment, in the assembly room of the defence ministry, on Monday, 12 November.

The chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Stefan Danila, declared that a coherent process of transformation and modernization of the Romanian military is highly necessary. 'The General Staff should manage this process and endorse the political decisions through coherent, viable and realistic solutions', Lieutenant General Stefan Danila said.

Invited at the event, defence minister Corneliu Dobritoiu pointed out that 'all those who were members of this elite military structure led our soldiers at war, reformed and equipped the military organization. Moreover, along the years, the General Staff had true leaders, who won the respect of the political leaders of the time and succeeded in creating an army that made history in this part of the world'.

Lieutenant colonel Gabriel Patrascu, chief of the Editing and Historical Documentation Office of the Historical Military Service and scientific researcher Serban Pavelescu from the Institute for Political Studies of Defense and Military History delivered lectures on the history and evolution of the General Staff and the implications of NATO Chicago Summit on the Romanian defence policy.

Present at the activity were the chiefs of the military services, former chiefs of General Staff and its personnel.

MoND Press Office