The Minister of National Defense, Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, and the Romanian chief of Defense (SMAp), lieutenant-general Daniel Petrescu, met General Tod D. Wolters, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) on Friday, September 4, at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Bucharest.
The official discussions addressed current issues on the North Atlantic Alliance's agenda, such as strengthening NATO's position on the entire eastern flank of the Alliance and the security situation in the Black Sea area. Also, the Minister of National Defense and the head of the General Staff presented the objectives in the defense plan, in full agreement with those of NATO, as well as the main procurement programs for the modernization of the Romanian Armed Forces.
Minister Ciuca appreciated the Alliance's approach to a '360-degree' security, and stressed the importance of continuing the process of consolidating NATO's position, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, as well as in-depth cooperation between allies.
The Minister of National Defense also stated that our country will continue to be a reliable partner in the Alliance and that this is demonstrated 'both by the determination with which the Romanian military fulfills its missions and by the allocation for the fourth consecutive year, two percent of GDP for defense '.
The chief of Defense Staff reiterated Romania's determination to actively contribute to the full implementation of measures and projects subsumed under the tailored Forward Presence (tFP), including the increase of Allied presence on the national territory.
In this context, lieutenant-general Petrescu said that 'we are making every effort to consolidate and develop the Allied multinational structures established in Romania' and thanked general Wolters for the constant support provided by the North Atlantic Alliance structures for the operationalization of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU), the Multinational Division South-East from Bucharest, the Multinational Brigade South-East from Craiova, respectively the newly established Corps Level Command that will operate in Sibiu.
'We continue to count on the support of NATO and Allies in all our efforts to strengthen security in our region,' said the Romanian Chief of Defence, recalling that a Canadian detachment has begun enhanced Air Policing missions these days from Constanta, that training flights were recently conducted with US B-52 bombers and that the Romanian military participates in NATO Permanent Naval Groups.
'We continue to train our troops in exercises with our allies, one of the last exercises being Saber Junction 20. We remain a robust ally in Allied missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo,' concluded lieutenant-general Daniel Petrescu.
In his speech, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, general Tod D. Wolters, stated that Romania plays a key role for the Alliance and the Black Sea region on all three domains land, air and maritime, highlighting the role of the Multinational Brigade South-East in the tailored Forward Presence, the naval and the enhanced air policing missions in the Black Sea. I would like to thank Romania for its contribution to strengthening the entire Alliance, thus contributing to the European and global security, and to state, once again, that NATO is committed to defend Romania and all its Allies.

The Press Office