The Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant-General Daniel Petrescu, met with his Spanish counterpart, Admiral Teodoro Esteban Lopez Calderon , on Wednesday, 24th March, at the MoND Headquarter.

The talks mainly focused on the military cooperation relations, participation in exercises and missions and the consolidation of the European and Allied multinational structures.

The officials considered that the cooperation between the two armed forces within the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Spain is excellent both at bilateral level, through the solid participation in training activities and the support offered to the defensive capabilities, and within NATO, due to the commitment of the Romanian and Spanish soldiers in the implementation of the assurance measures on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance.
Also, the two chiefs of defence staffs decided to enhance the joint training activities in the AD, military police and ISR , (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance), special operations and cyber defence fields.

Another subject approached was rendering operational the NATO C2 structures. Thus, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu reiterated Romania's position in remaining committed, together with other allied states, in consolidating NATO Rapid Deployable Corps from Valencia and, beside other sponsor nations, in supporting the Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Excellence Center from Madrid.

I told my Spanish counterpart that Romania promotes within NATO and EU a realistic approach in the defensive capability development process which aims at efficiently coordinating the national forces and means taking into account the fact that the member states own a single set of capabilities for each of the two international bodies, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu stated.

The contribution brought by the Spanish Armed Force to the consolidation of the NATO defence and deterrence posture (the year when Romania and Spain celebrate 140 years of diplomatic relations) consists in the participation of the Spanish soldiers in the Alliance multinational structures deployed on our territory and in the air policing missions conducted together with the Romanian Air Force, declared the officials.

The Chief of Defence Staff of the Kingdom of Spain also had meetings with the leadership teams of the Land Forces Staff, the Multinational Corps South-East Headquarters and The Multinational Division South-East Headquarters.

On Thursday, 25th March, Admiral Lopez Calderon will have a meeting with Defence Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, the Chiefs of Air Force Staff and the Naval Forces Staff and will participate in the closure ceremony of the enhanced Air Policing Mission conducted by the Spanish detachment deployed to the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base.

On 26th March, the last day of his visit, the Spanish official will be the guest of Mircea cel Batran Naval Academy from Constanta and will meet with the sailors of the Spanish Frigate which participates in Exercise SEA SHIELD 21 conducted by the Romanian Naval Forces.

The Press Office