The Minister of National Defence, Mircea Dusa, and his Portuguese counterpart, Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, discussed today, 6 December, main aspects concerning bilateral cooperation in defence industry as well as the government agreement on the fighting aircraft that will equip the Romanian Armed Forces.

As both Romania and Portugal will participate in the meeting of the European Council at the end of this year on defence industry, Minister Dusa pointed out during today's talks that a Romanian-Portuguese working group was established in this respect.

'The group, that has already begun to work, represents a step forward in the cooperation between the two countries in general and for the small and medium enterprises in the field, in particular, so that they can survive in the free market, marked by the budgetary constraints, all states are facing', the minister of defence said.

Talking of the acquisition of the fighting aircraft, Minister Dusa pointed out that all deadlines were met so that 'the premises are set that in 2016 - 2017 we have the capability to carry out the three missions of the Romanian Air Forces'.

The defence minister appreciated that this visit will strengthen the cooperation between the two armed forces and also during NATO or EU missions, all the more so as Romanian and Portuguese troops are involved in the theater of operations in Afghanistan.

In turn, the Portuguese defence minister thanked for the cooperation between the two military, also between the two countries, and said that today's visit should prove beneficial for both parties. Mr. Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco thanked for the invitation made by Minister Dusa to participate in the ceremony in Bucharest of March next year, namely the anniversary of 10 years since Romania joined NATO.

MoND Press Office