The second day of the NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting was dedicated to the Nuclear Planning Group reunion, followed by other two sessions of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), in the defence ministers' format.

The first of the two NAC sessions focused on the NATO and EU cooperation and was attended by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini. At the same time, the defence ministers tackled with the EU official as well as with the Finish and Swedish defence ministers common interest topics such as military mobility and counteracting hybrid and cybernetic threats.

In this allocution, defence minister Mihai Fifor emphasized that, when holding the EU Chairmanship, Romania will pay a special attention to the consolidation of the trans-Atlantic relations by developing the European Defence policy in full accordance with NATO regulations.

In this context, minister Fifor emphasized the need to implement the decisions made at the Brussels Summit, with focus on the importance of countering the hybrid and cybernetic threats as well as the on the military mobility; in this respect, Romania is in favor of adopting common NATO-EU standards. At the same time, the defence minister pointed out the need to enhance cooperation between the two organizations with the pilot states in order to conduct NATO-EU activities with a view of building security and defence capabilities in the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia Herzegovina and Tunisia.

During the second NAC session, the officials evaluated the implementation status of NATO's deterrence and defence posture, with focus on the adaptation of the command structure and military reinforcement of the Alliance.

Minister Fifor also emphasized the importance of the implementation of the decisions agreed upon at the recent Summit in order to take credible and coherent measures that would provide for the defence of the entire Allied territory.

The Romanian defence minister highlighted the importance of enabling our country's offer of hosting an army-corps level command and control capability (Multinational Corps South-East - MNC-SE) which would foster the command and control mechanisms and the Allied coordinated efforts in our region. Also, the defence minister expressed his appreciation for the support offered by the Allied Command Operations (SHAPE) and the United States European Command (US EUCOM) in the development of the MNC-SE concept and expressed the entire availability of the Romanian part in finalizing the planning process, together with NATO's military structures, so that it can be submitted for approval as soon as possible.

The Press Office