The Minister of National Defence, Mihai Fifor, had a meeting with Robert Karem, the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, on Tuesday, March 13th, during the latter's attendance of the Defence Ministers' Meeting, B9, in Bucharest.

The officials talked of the excellent level of cooperation on defence, against the background of the Romanian US Strategic Partnership, both parties reiterating the need to consolidate and enhance it, given the highly unpredictable security environment.

They also discussed the security developments in the extended Black Sea region, as a prerequisite of the sustained efforts to adapt NATO's deterrence and defence posture along the eastern flank, along sustained contributions to ensure global security, especially related to terrorism. The delegations appreciated that the current framework of bilateral cooperation offers multiple opportunities to implement such goals.

Also, Minister Fifor reiterated that Romania stands by the commitments made in terms of allotting the necessary defence resources and continuing the equipment acquisitions, ongoing and future ones, which makes it a reliable partner in the region.

Along the same lines, they stressed the importance of making the most out of regional formats such as B9, that offer enhanced opportunities for both bilateral consultations and for harmonizing national positions in multilateral format, thus contributing to the allied process of cristalization of the political decisions in light of NATO Summit of July this year.

The Press Office