The Minister of National Defence Gabriel Les received the Ambassador of Germany to Bucharest, H.E. Cord Meier-Klodt, at the defence ministry, on Friday, February 17. During the meeting, the two officials discussed ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of defence as well as cooperation within NATO and the EU.

Minister Les highlighted the most important landmarks of the bilateral cooperation and emphasized Romania's commitment to implement the Warsaw Summit decisions and stressed the importance of the Black Sea for the Euro-Atlantic security and the decisions made at the Defence Ministerial in Brussels. In this respect, he insisted on the actions meant to ensure NATO's forward presence in the region and thanked the German official for the support given in implementing Romania's concrete initiatives.

As to the Common Security and Defence Policy, the national positions were highlighted on implementing the conclusions of the European Council of December 2016 on security and defence. They focused on the current themes under debate at the level of the European Council on the background of implementing the Global Strategy as well as the cooperation of the two countries with a view to preparing for the taking over the Presidency of the EU Council by Romania early in 2019.

The German ambassador emphasized the advanced stage of the bilateral cooperation in security and defence and stated the commitment of the authorities in Berlin to intensify the relations of practical military cooperation, mainly by participating in multinational exercises and in the initiatives to develop capabilities within NATO and EU.

Press Department