On Wednesday, March 1, the Minister of National Defence, Gabriel Les, had a meeting with the ambassador of Canada to Bucharest, H.E. Kevin Hamilton, at the latter's request. During this first meeting, the two officials discussed topics related to the developments in the regional and international security environment, at bilateral level and within the Alliance.

The defence minister thanked for Canada's solid involvement in the implementation of the reassurance measures and the achievement of NATO forward presence on the entire eastern flank of the Alliance. He made a special note of the contribution with staff personnel to rendering operational the multinational brigade in Romania and the consistent presence of the Canadian troops to the exercises conducted in Romania, at the three operational levels, air, land and maritime.

A special mention was made of the F-18 aircraft deployed in Romania, in the previous years and on the second part of this year, with a view to participating in Air Police missions and other common training with the Romanian Air Force.

The Romanian minister thanked the authorities in Ottawa for inviting Romania at the 2017 edition of the INVICTUS Paralympic Games that will take place in Toronto, in the fall of this year.

The two officials discussed aspects of the military procurement in the two countries and the implication in the allied processes of developing military capabilities, in terms of the 2 percent of the GDP allotted to defence.

Ambassador Hamilton reiterated the commitment of the Canadian authorities to consolidate bilateral defence cooperation and forwarded the invitation of defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan to his Romanian counterpart, to make an official visit in Canada this year.

Press Department