On Monday, April 10, at the MoND headquarters, defence minister, Gabriel Les, received the visit of a delegation of the US House of Representatives made up of Mike Rogers, Scott DesJarlais, Ralph Abraham, Jim Banks and Steven Palazzo. The US Ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, and the chief of General Staff, General Nicolae Ciuca also attended the meeting.

The top-priority facets of the military cooperation as part of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the Unites States of America and collaboration in allied framework were the main topics of the meeting agenda.

The Romanian and American officials exchanged opinions on the recent evolution from the international security environment with focus on the situation from Syria and the Black Sea Region. In this respect, the Romanian defence minister emphasized Romania's commitment in the international counter-terrorism efforts, as part of the International Coalition against ISIL.

Minister Les presented the government strategic priorities in the field of defence and security focused on the allocation of 2% of the GDP for defence and highlighted the increased amount (over 40%) from the total defence spending that is to be allocated for the procurement of major military equipment. The official also emphasized the utmost importance Romania pays to the development of the Strategic Partnership with the USA, praised the solid commitment of the USA with respect to consolidating security at the Black Sea and saluted the presence of the American troops on the national territory by stressing its essential role in strengthening defence and deterring all threats and risks against the European security, especially those coming from the Eastern Flank of the Alliance.

The Romanian part expressed its acknowledgement for the excellent cooperation in allied context by thanking the delegation for the USA contribution in helping build the allied presence in the Southern Region of the Eastern Flank at ground, air and maritime levels. As part of the implementation of the consolidated forward presence, the Romanian officials emphasized the cooperation with the American partner by assuming the participation of the Romanian Armed Forces within the US-led Task Force deployed in Poland, in April.

Also, the substantial contribution of the Aegis Ashore system to NATO's collective security was highlighted. The American officials pointed out that rendering Deveselu base operational is a project of utmost importance which reflects the effectiveness of the Strategic Partnership and expressed their appreciation for Romania's investments and constant commitment with regard to fully integrating the Aegis Ashore system into NATO's C2 architecture.

The American congressmen spotlighted the very good level of cooperation between the two armed forces in the theater of operations from Afghanistan and insisted on Romania's efforts in the field of defence by considering that the allocation of 2% of the GDP has a certain strategic significance and contributes to the strengthening of the transatlantic link, the equitable sharing of responsibilities within NATO and to the consolidation of the defence and deterrence posture of the Alliance.

Press Department