On Wednesday, October 30, NATO's Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoana, together with a delegation made up of ambassadors of the North-Atlantic Council, made a visit onboard of Lt. Lupu Dinescu Minesweeper that is part of the Standing NATO Maritime Counter Measures Group/ SNMCMG-2, which is on stopover in Odessa.

The members of the delegation had talks with the Romanian crew about the missions the Romanian Naval Forces conduct in the Black Sea region together with their partners and about our country's contribution in applying the security measures on NATO's Eastern Flank.

We are honored for having received us onboard of this Romanian ship. I congratulate you, on my behalf and on behalf of my colleagues for the courage, devotion and patriotism you prove by participating in this mission. I assure you that the entire Alliance is proud of you and I am convinced that you will have successful careers because I see in you, both men and women, the future leaders of the Romanian Armed Forces and of the Alliance. I wish success in your mission, said the NATO's Deputy Secretary General to the Romanian soldiers.

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SNMCMG-2 Missions in the Black Sea aim at increasing the interoperability among the participating forces in the field of debarkation of the air assault and countermining troops. Also, the mission consists in stopovers of the Spanish ESPS SELLA Minehunter, Bulgarian BGS SHKVAL Minesweeper and Romanian Lt. Lupu Dinescu Minesweeper in Constanta and Odessa Harbors.

Lt. Lupu Dinescu Minesweeper is headed by Lieutenant Commander Ionut Diaconu , with a crew made up of 70 servicemen.

The Press Office