The Romanian-American Working Group on Defence met for a new round of the Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, at the defence ministry, on Wednesday, May 9th. The working session was opened by the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor who reiterated that Romania remains a solid, predictable and trustworthy partner of the United States that have a major contribution in the region.

The talks of the High-Level Romanian-American Defence Working Group were coordinated by the two co-chairmen, the Romanian Secretary of State for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Mircea Dusa, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Thomas Goffus.

The dialogue focused on exchanging views on current security and defence topics and on concrete aspects of cooperation with the US, at bilateral level and within NATO. 'The strategic partnership is an important contribution to our common security and defence efforts for the Euro-Atlantic region. Romania actively supports the coherent approach of NATO's eastern flank, as she is both a beneficiary and a contributor to the NATO forward presence,' Dusa said.

The two delegations highlighted the dynamics of the Romanian-US Strategic Partnershipand the prospects for intensifying defence co-operation, as essential components of security and stability of Romania and and the region.

NATO's forward presence on the entire eastern flank, including the southern part, for the maritime, land and naval components, the US initiative on increasing timeliness and response, military mobility, equal sharing of burden, as well as bilateral co-operation in military exercises were among the topics included in the agenda.

Among the concrete projects discussed were the support for NATO and EU initiatives to increase military mobility, as well as joint investment with the US in upgrading the infrastructure of some bases such as Mihail Kogalniceanu, Campia Turzii and Cincu, conducted through the European Defence Initiative (EDI).

The meeting of the High-Level Romanian-American Defence Working Group is part of regular defence consultations between Romania and the US under the bilateral strategic partnership.

The Press Office