The Minister of National Defence, Mircea Dusa, met , on Sunday, December 14, with a delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee headed by Congressman Michael Rogers, member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.
The substantial support for the implementation of allied assurance measures, increasing the number of bilateral military exercises, the visit of U.S. senior officials to Romania have proved the robustness of the Romania — United States relation,' said Minister Mircea Dusa, who conveyed the message that the Strategic Partnership between the two countries led to the promotion and defence of common security interests.
Minister Dusa stressed the importance of the United States' European Reassurance Initiative, which aims mainly at increasing and maintaining the U.S. military presence in Europe. He also appreciated the USA endorsement expressed by the US Congress approval of the document, with a major impact on the states in NATO's eastern flank.

The two dignitaries also discussed the security situation in Ukraine and across the wider Black Sea region. The Minister National Defence Mircea Dusa saluted the US firm commitment to implementing the Plan to increase the operational capacity of the Alliance.

Cooperation in missile defence and the Romanian troops' presence in the theater of operations of Afghanistan were major topics on the agenda of the official talks.

According to both delegations, the Deveselu military base is a valuable component for NATO's missile defence system and helps reaffirming the solidarity and cohesion of the allies. The US official said that both Romania and the United States met the deadlines for the agreed tasks, namely rendering Deveselu facility operational, and he congratulated the Romanian side on its continuous commitment to the project.
Congressman Michael Rogers appreciated the professionalism of the Romanian troops in the theater of operations of Afghanistan, saying that their commitment defines the efforts to stabilize Afghanistan as they were assumed over ten years ago, that resulted in significant contributions to ISAF.

MoND Press Office