The bilateral meeting of the Minister of National Defence, Mircea Dusa, and his counterpart, Mr. Moshe Ya'alon, the Defence Minister of the State of Israel took place on Tuesday, 24 June, in the context of the Romanian-Israeli Reunion at intergovernmental level, organized in Jerusalem over 23 and 24 June.

The two defence ministers started their bilateral talks with an analysis of the security situation in Ukraine. Mircea Dusa noted that the presidential elections of 25 May in Ukraine, that resulted in the election of Petro Porosenko as chief of state, is beneficial to the consolidation of central administration and strengthening of legitimacy of the state.

Related to the Ukraine crisis, the Romanian defence minister informed his counterpart of the reassurance measures on NATO's eastern flank. The developments of the security situation of Syria and Iraq were another topic approached during the discussions.

Minister Mircea Dusa said the situation in Syria seems volatile and unpredictable, with a probability of worsening. 'The conflict in Syria can affect the countries in the region, especially Lebanon and Iraq', the Romanian defence minister pointed out. During their discussions, the two ministers also discussed the stage of the bilateral relations, when Minister Mircea Dusa appreciated that the visit was a good opportunity to further cooperation 'in an international context that compels countries sharing common interests to consolidate their dialogue by adding a pragmatic touch to it'.

Another topic of discussion was cooperation in the field of intelligence. Signing a new agreement between the two institutions on the mutual protection of classified information 'will complete the legal framework of the Romanian-Israeli bilateral cooperation', the Romanian defence minister pointed out. The agreement will offer a better way of approaching challenges to regional and Euro-Atlantic security.

The agenda of the bilateral meeting also included identifying cooperation opportunities at service level and military education in the Navy. In turn, Minister Moshe Ya'alon pointed out that this year's anniversary of 10 years since the establishment of the Mediterranean Dialogue with NATO is an opportunity for Israel to reiterate its commitment to counter terror and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

MoND Press Office