During NATO Defence Ministerial taking place in Brussels over November 8th to 9th, the Minister of National Defence, Mihai Fifor, had a meeting with the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

On this occasion, the dialogue initiated in Washington in September continued with a focus on the strategic priorities of the cooperation between Romania and the USA on security and defence, the developments of the security situation in the Black Sea region, as well as the implementation of the decisions made at Warsaw NATO Summit on enhancing NATO's deterrence and defence posture.

As to the Strategic Partnership with the United States, the two officials discussed the opportunities to enhance bilateral cooperation concerning NATO's enhanced forward presence on the eastern flank and its unitary approach, with emphasis on US participation in the initiatives in the Black Sea region.

An important topic on the talks agenda was the cooperation between Romanian and US military in Afghanistan, within NATO Resolute Support mission. Minister Fifor mentioned that Romania observes its pledge to continue contributing to this missions and, as such, to the security and stability of Afghanistan.

I meet with US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, one month and a half after the official visit I made in Washington, in September, when we had a very good exchange of opinions on topics of mutual interest. It is an excellent proof of the excellent collaboration with the United States that we managed to intensify this year. We sent the message that Romania stays by its commitment to NATO and remains a credible and stable ally in the Black Sea region. I also had the pleasure to extend an official invitation to the secretary of defense to participate in the event Bucharest 9 (B9), to take place next year in Romania. The participation of the USA in the meeting in this format will certainly add value to the talks meant to set the ground for NATO Summit of July 2018, minister Fifor stated.

Press Department