On Wednesday, February 15, defence minister Gabriel Les, had a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, Jose Alberto Azeredo Lopes. Topics of reciprocal interests were approached during the meeting with focus on the ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of defence as well as cooperation within NATO.

Also, the two officials agreed upon the increase of cooperation between the Romanian and Portuguese armed forces in the field of Cyber Defence, CBRN, aeronautical medicine and multinational exercises which are to be thoroughly discussed in the future reunion of the mixed committee made up of representatives of the two defence ministries.

The Romanian defence minister emphasized the national efforts made to assure NATO's enhanced forward presence on Romania's territory and at the Black Sea and thanked his Portuguese counterpart for the significant participation in rendering operational the Multinational Brigade from Craiova.

At the same time, minister Gabriel-Beniamin Les expressed his appreciation for the effort and support offered by the Portuguese partner in running the F-16 aicraft procurement program and in the training process of the military pilots and maintenance personnel, restating his intention to continue the joint effort in the Air Force field.

The Portuguese defence minister spoke of the efforts of the authorities in Lisbon to develop initiatives to counter the threats south of the Alliance, mainly those of Non-state Actors, terrorism and illegal immigration. He pointed out the need that the various actors, NATO included, should commit themselves in this respect and also suggested that the dialogue and bilateral cooperation in the field should be taken further with a view to a possible joint contribution to the international efforts.

Press Department