The Minister of National Defence, Mircea Duta, had a meeting, proceeded by a tete-a-tete with his German counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen, at the Defence Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, on 24 September.

The Romanian defence minister said he believed that signing the Amending Protocol of the Agreement between the Ministry of National Defence of Romania and the Federal Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany is a real step made in adapting the legal framework to the new realities as well as an important element in developing bilateral relations.

As for the bilateral cooperation, the defence minister stressed the importance of the high level political and military dialogue. 'The two countries have excellent opportunities to train jointly in the field of Special Operations Forces and the Interconnected Forces Initiative', minister Duta said.

The analysis of the security situation on NATO's eastern flank was another topic discussed by the two ministers, who shared the belief that the Alliance should maintain its military and political flexibility in order to respond to challenges. Romania endorses the Readiness Action Plan for an increased operational capability of the Alliance. The Romanian defence minister pointed out the importance of intensifying and focusing the military exercises on collective defence scenarios and linking national military exercises with those conducted by NATO. Minister Duta saluted the NATO Framework Nations Concept, an initiative of Germany.

Germany and Romania will continue their discussions and bilateral talks meant to jointly identify and develop of military capabilities within Smart Defence and Pooling&Sharing.

The Minister of National Defence, Mircea Duta, told his counterpart that Romania continues to endorse the allied commitment in Afghanistan post ISAF 2014.

MoND Press Office