United States Secretary of the Navy, Kenneth J. Braithwaite, met with Minister of National Defence, Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, and the chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, on Wednesday, November 11th, at the MoND Headquarters, as part of the official visit the US official pays to Romania, over 11th-12th November.

The talks focused on bilateral cooperation, common projects of the Naval Forces, security situation in the Black Sea region and current topics listed on NATO's agenda.

Defence Minister thanked his American partner for the excellent cooperation which took place at the Naval Forces level, the multinational exercises conducted in the Black Sea region over the last few years being a good example of good practice and military coordination at the highest standards. A special topic was the dynamics of the Romanian-American Strategic Partnership, an essential element for our country's security and the regional environment characterized by minister Ciuca as being continuously developed and stronger than ever.

The chief of Defence Staff mentioned the increase of cooperation at the Black Sea, continuous rotation of the US forces in Romania and the US assistance offered for the achievement of the Allied capability targets among the priorities of the Romanian Armed Forces. Romania is a robust ally with major strategic relevance in the Back Sea region, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu stated, arguing that, the increase of the troops' readiness level continued and the major procurement programs became more complex even in the context of the medical crisis. All these have been possible in the context of the accomplishment of the national commitments and on-going international missions.

The Romanian officials thanked the United States of America for their support in several pillars of bilateral defence cooperation field, in the context of the efforts made to develop capabilities and consolidate the defence and deterrence posture on NATO's Eastern Flank.

The US official's agenda in Romania also includes visits to the 99th Deveselu Military Base, 57th Air Base Mihail Kogalniceanu and to the Romanian Naval Forces' military units from Constanta.

The Press Office