Minister of National Defence, Mihai Fifor, had a meeting with Thomas Goffus, Deputy Secretary of Defence on EU and NATO matters, at the MoND headquarters, on Monday, December 11th.

The US official visit is part of the regular contacts in the field of defence between the two states, as stipulated in the Strategic Partnership between Romania and The United States, offering the two parts an opportunity for an exchange of views on current security and defence topics as well as on topics related to the cooperation with the USA, both bilaterally and within the Alliance.

During the meeting, the two officials approached topics related to the security situation in the Black Sea region and the implementation status of the assurance and adaptation measures agreed upon at the NATO Summit from Warsaw; the measures refer to an overall approach of the Eastern Flank, the tailored Forward Presence with its ground, air and maritime components as well as on the participation in the theaters of operations.

In this context, the US official emphasized the significant participation of the Romanian soldiers in the theater of operations in Afghanistan as well as Romania's contribution as part of the Global Coalition against ISIL led by the United States of America, with a view of neutralizing the terrorist organizations.

Also, Thomas Goffus sent the message of the US Secretary of Defence, James Mattis, with regard to the example Romania gives to the other allied states on respecting its commitment in allocating 2% of the GDP for defence expenditures. In this context, minister Mihai Fifor specified that Romania will also continue this trend in 2018 and that the running of the Romanian Armed forces' procurement programs will be a priority of the Government of Romania, in the following years.

The Press Office