The Minister of National Defence, Adrian THutuianu, had a meeting on Tuesday, July 11, with a delegation made up of former ambassadors of the US to Eastern Europe, headed by Damon Wilson, the executive vice president of the Atlantic Council of the United States.

The delegations discussed the development of the security environment in the Black Sea region, the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US and the two percent of the GDP allotted for defence.
At the beginning of the meeting, Minister THutuianu greeted the celebration of twenty years of Romanian — American Strategic Partnership. He pointed out that, in terms of defence, the cooperation with the US under the Strategic Partnership has directly contributed to strengthening Romania's Euro-Atlantic profile and remains essential in the complex regional and international security environment. As an expression of the solid cooperation in the military area between the two nations, the defence minister mentioned the anti-ballistic missile defence capability at Deveselu, the development of the Romanian Special Forces, the multinodal transport hub at Mihail Kogalniceanu, as well as the complex joint training and preparation.

In this context, the Romanian side conveyed its appreciation of the project initiated by the organisation in cooperation with 'Carol I' National Defence University on the Black Sea topic, which generated a series of consistent discussions on the importance of security in the region, in agreement with the decisions adopted at the NATO Summit in Warsaw.

Both delegations appreciated the excellent level of the cooperation between the two armed forces, both in theaters of operations and during the military training and preparation process. They all agreed that this solid partnership relation will be taken further and enhanced in the future.

One of the topics discussed during the bilateral meeting was Romania's decision to increase the defence budget, 'the Romanian authorities thus offering an example of determination and rigorous planning with respect to consolidating the military combat capacity, beyond the declarative level'. The Romanian defence minister briefed the US delegation on the eight strategic programs the Army intends to implement in the next period, in accordance with the real military operational needs.

***

Founded in 1961, the Atlantic Council of the United States represents an essential forum for analysing the changes in the economic and political area, through its worldwide network of leaders. The Council manages ten regional centers and functional programs related to international security, shaping up the choice of policies and strategies that represent the vision of the North Atlantic Alliance

Press Department