During NATO Defence Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Defence Minister Mihai Fifor had a meeting with the British Secretary of Defence, Gavin Williamson, on Friday, June 8th.

The agenda included the excellent defence co-operation between the UK and Romania, with emphasis on the British military contribution to Air Police missions and the constant naval presence at the Black Sea, that show the firm commitment to strengthen the deterrence and defence of NATO in the region.

The Romania-UK bilateral meeting took part on the second day of a NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting at NATO's headquarters.

The two officials stressed the need to strengthen cooperation in the field of common training, education, military medicine, cyber defence and countering hybrid threats, namely developing cooperation in defence industry. The Romanian and British ministers will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between their countries that should lay the basis for concrete common defence cooperation projects.

The British Secretary of Defence pointed out that Romania is a factor of regional stability, with a substantial contribution to ensuring security in the Black Sea region and the Western Balkans. The British official stated that the UK supports Romania's efforts within the Alliance, including the possibility of participating with Land Forces to the Multinational Brigade in Craiova, as part of NATO enhanced forward presence.

Another topic of discussion was the support offered by the two countries to the development of NATO's partnerships with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in the current regional security context.

As far as UK's exiting the European Union is concerned, Minister Fifor assured his counterpart that Romania will continue to develop the special relationship it has with the British partner, related to the security and defence in the Euro-Atlantic area.

At the end of the meeting, the two officials agreed to intensify high-level contacts by organising this year official visits to Romania and the UK, in order to give a strong signal regarding both their commitment in bilateral and allied context.

The Press Office