The first day of the NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting, which takes place at the Alliance General Headquarters, in Brussels, minister Mihai Fifor had bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Canada, Italy and Turkey.

During the talks with the Canadian defence minister, Harjit Singh Sajjan, the officials tackled the significant progress made by the Romanian and Canadian parties in the field of military cooperation both at bilateral level and within the Alliance, as well as the ways of consolidating this cooperation.

The Romanian defence minister thanked minister Sajjan for the substantial contributions made by Canada to the consolidation of the Alliance Eastern flank, in the Black Sea region, as part of NATO's tailored Forward Presence/tFP in the South-Eastern Europe, in all its three components- air, naval and ground, at the same time, expressing his hope that the level of these contributions will be also preserved in the near future, in the context of the evolution of the security environment.

In his turn, the Canadian defence minister emphasized the complexity of emergent security challenges in the Black Sea region, pointing out Canada's intention in preserving its military contribution in the region, as a powerful Allied solidarity message.

In this context, minister Mihai Fifor mentioned the excellent cooperation with his Canadian counterpart, highlighting the importance of the enhanced Air Policing mission currently conducted in our country by the Royal Canadian Air Force servicemen, together with the Romanian Air Force soldiers.

An important topic listed on the talks agenda was the collaboration in the field of psychological assistance, minister Fifor thanking the Canadian Armed forces for their valuable support given in the development of the establishment conception of a National Operational Psychological Center, in Bucharest.

During his meeting with Elisabetta Trenta, the Italian defence minister, the officials approached topics referring to the evolution of the defence cooperation relations, in the context of the strategic partnership between the two states.
Minister Fifor appreciated the contribution of Italy with regard to the implementation of the reassurance measures on NATO's Eastern flank, as part of the tFP, by assuming staff positions within the Headquarters Multinational Brigade South-East and emphasized the Romanian interest in the increased participation of the Italian partner in manning the NATO structures assigned on the Romanian territory. In this context, Mihai Fifor requested Italy's support in enabling our country's offer of hosting an army-corps level command and control capability (Multinational Corps South-East - MNC-SE).

The Italian defence minister thanked her Romanian counterpart for its significant contributions to the consolidation of defence of the Alliance Southern flank (Romania manning 26 positions in the Allied structures deployed in Italy) as well as for the excellent cooperation between the two armed forces during the operations conducted in Afghanistan, Western Balkans and Iraq.

Both parties agreed upon the need to continue the strategic dialogue at military and political levels, as well as on the enhancement of the joint military training and of the industrial collaboration for the development of defence capabilities.

The bilateral meeting with the Turkish defence minister, Hulusi Akar, mainly focused on topics referring to the security situation in the Black Sea region and on the ways of developing bilateral military cooperation.

The Romanian defence minister emphasized the need for an overall approach of NATO's Eastern flank from North to South, as agreed upon at the Brussels Summit where, the security situation in the Black Sea region-following Romania's request- was a distinct topic on the talks agenda.

Minister Akar mentioned Turkey's support in the implementation of the reassurance measures on the Aliance Eastern flank and emphasized his country's interest in the development of the cooperation relations in the technical-military field, pointing out the unexploited potential that could bring benefits to both parties.

The two ministers agreed on the need to continue the strategic military dialogue with a view of harmonizing the two countries ‘positions regarding the implementation of the collective security measures in the region.

The Romanian defence minister officially invited his counterparts to participate in the festivities organized in Bucharest on the occasion of the celebration of Romania's National Day, which, at the same time, marks the Centenary of the Great Union.

The Press Office