On the second day of the NATO Ministerial from Brussels, the defence minister had a series of bilateral meetings with his Spanish counterpart, Margarita Robles Fernandez, and General Curtis Scaparrotti, the Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR).

The discussions with the Spanish defence minister, Margarita Robles Fernandez, focused on the identification of ways of increasing cooperation both at bilateral level (as part of the Strategic Partnership between the two states) and within the North-Atlantic Alliance.

Minister Fifor expressed his appreciation with regard to Spain's contribution to the consolidation of Allied defence in the Black Sea region, as part of the tailored Forward Presence measures, emphasizing, in this respect, the presence of the Spanish military ships in the joint exercises conducted in the Black Sea, the participation of the Spanish servicemen to the Combined Joined Enhanced Training exercises, as well as the positions assumed within NATO command and control structures established on the Romanian territory.

Also, in the discussions with minister Robles Fernandez, the Romanian defence minister approached topics referring to Romania's offer of hosting army-corps level command and control capability (Multinational Corps South-East - MNC-SE). The Spanish minister expressed his support for the implementation of Romania's offer and reiterated Spain's contribution to the reassurance measures within tFP.

The Spanish minister appreciated the increased level of the political-military dialogue between the two states and Romania's contribution to counteracting the security threats emerged on the Allied Southern flank. In this context, the two officials pointed out the constant presence of the Romanian Naval Forces to Sea Guardian Operation from the Mediterranean, our contribution to the NATO Training Mission from Iraq, as well as Romania's solid contribution in Afghanistan, as part of Resolute Support Mission (700 soldiers). In this respect, the Romanian defence minister reminded of the recent decision of augmenting the troops deployed to this theater of operations, starting next year.

During the meeting with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti, the officials tackled subjects referring to the security situation from the Black Sea region and the status of the implementation of the Allied projects in the region, as agreed upon at the July NATO Summit, 2018.

Minister Mihai Fifor thanked the SACEUR for the firm support given in the implementation of the measures taken by the Allies for all three dimensions of the tFP ground, air and naval. In this context, the Romanian minister emphasized our country's efforts in consolidating the readiness level of the Multinational Brigade South-East from Craiova, by reminding the talks currently held with the Allied countries with respect to the force contribution and affiliation of military structures, the most recent example being given by the Alabama National Guard which expressed the intention to assign a Combat Support company to the multinational brigade from Craiova.

Minister Fifor appreciated SACEUR's positive evaluation with regard to Romania's offer of hosting an army-corps level command and control capability (Multinational Corps South-East - MNC- and ensured his interlocutor that our country would make all necessary efforts to materialize this initiative of utmost importance in the security equation from the Black Sea.

The Press Office