While in Brussels at the NATO Defence Ministerial, Defence Minister Mihai Fifor had several bilateral meetings on Wednesday, February 14th , with his counterparts from Poland, Canada and Bulgaria,.

The discussions with the Polish Defence Minister, Mariusz B³aszczak, focused on THE bilateral defence cooperation, the security situation in the region in the context of the implementation of the Warsaw Summit decisions, and the importance of strengthening the political-military dialogue on security, given the specific of the geostrategic position of the two countries on the NATO and EU flank.

A special emphasis was put on the preparation of B9, the first meeting of the NATO Defence Ministers, to be co-organized by Romania and Poland in Bucharest in March this year, an event that will provide the framework for deepening the dialogue and coordination among Central and Eastern European allies in the face of the next NATO Summit. At the same time, the two ministers agreed to maintain the high level of the bilateral defence cooperation in which they agreed on the next steps of the bilateral dialogue at this level.

Also today, the Romanian and Canadian Defence Ministers, Mihai Fifor and Harjit Singh Sajjan, highlighted the significant progress made by the bilateral defence cooperation and the favorable prospects for the further development of military relations. A special emphasis has been put on deepening cooperation in the field of the military medicine, particularly regarding the improvement of the research system, risk management, diagnosis and treatment specific to the post-traumatic stress disorders. In this context, Minister Mihai Fifor expressed his strong commitment to the development of cooperation between the two armed and thanked Canada for its substantial contribution to all the components of NATO's advanced presence in the Black Sea region. It has also been agreed to continue the dialogue to identify new opportunities for cooperation to strengthen the Canadian military presence on the southern segment of the eastern flank.

During the talks with the Bulgarian counterpart Krasimir Karakachanov, they highlighted the upward course of the bilateral military cooperation relations by intensifying the political-military dialogue and the participation in joint training exercises and activities. The two defence ministers had an exchange of views on the security situation in the extended Black Sea region, reiterating the common interest in strengthening regional stability, including the allied advanced presence in the area. In this context, they also emphasized the importance of the next B9 meeting at the level of the NATO Defence Ministers to be organized in Bucharest.

The Press Office