The meeting of Tuesday, July 7, of the Minister of National Defence, Mircea Dusa, and the Albanian Defence Minister, Ms. Mimi Kodheli, was an important step in revigorating the high level political and military dialogue, setting the proper framework for an exchange of opinions on the stage and perspectives of bilateral military cooperation in multinational formats.
'We share common ideals and values, which is why we must identify the fields of cooperation that can contribute to stabilizing and securing the Euro-Atlantic space and the adjacent region', Minister Dusa said at the official meeting. He also pointed out the importance of bilateral cooperation within the regional initiatives Romania and Albania are part of.
Minister Mircea Dusa spoke of the fact that the Romanian side has the possibility to train Albanian military personnel at NATO Excellence Centre on HUMINT in Oradea and thanked for the Albanian support during Romania's chairmanship of the South-East Europe Defence Ministerial — SEDM regional cooperation initiative over July 2013 to July 2015.
Another topic on the agenda of the talks was the cooperation within NATO, with emphasis on the results of the defence-related allied ministerial meeting (June 24 to 25) and the stage of the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan for enhancing the operating capability.
'In terms of the main risks and threats to the security of the allies, I believe that the long-term adaptation process of NATO is a fundamental strategic option and represents a key element in preparing the agenda of the future NATO summit', the defence minister said.
Speaking of the participation in NATO missions and operations, Minister Dusa said that, depending on the Alliance needs, the Romanian military will maintain its flexibility with respect to the forces committed both to Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and NATO mission in Kosovo (KFOR), whose role continues to be 'crucial to providing and maintaining security and stability in the Western Balkans'.
Also on Tuesday, the Romanian defence minister would meet with President Bujar Nishani and Vice Premier Niko Peleshi, and will attend a drill team exercise conducted by soldiers of the Special Albanian Forces.

MoND Press Office