Defence Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca had an official meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff of the Kingdom of Spain, Admiral Teodoro Esteban Lopez Calderon, on Thursday, 25th March, at the MoND headquarters, as part of the official visit the official pays to Romania.

The main topics of discussion approached by the officials were the status of the defence bilateral cooperation and current security topics listed on the North-Atlantic Alliance agenda, with focus on the implementation of the allied measures in order to ensure the presence on the Eastern Flank.

The Romanian defence minister thanked the Spanish official for this country's contribution to the Multinational Division South-East Headquarters, the Multinational Brigade South-East Headquarters from Craiova and the NATO Forces Integration Unit as well as to the NATO enhanced Air Policing Missions conducted by the Spanish detachment deployed in the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base over February-March, together with the F-16 Fighting Falcon and MiG-21 LanceR aircraft and the Romanian Air Forces soldiers.

Also, minister Ciuca praised the participation of the Spanish Royal Ships in the Black Sea exercises and emphasized the fact that the Alliance must continue implement measures in order to give a coherent answer to the already existing challenges posed in the region.

The two officials highlighted the importance of continuing and enhancing practical cooperation between the two armed forces through exercises, both at bilateral and multinational levels.

The agenda of the respective day also included the participation of the Romanian and Spanish chiefs of defence staffs in the closure ceremony of the enhanced Air Policing Missions conducted in our country by the Spanish Air Forces detachment.

Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu expressed his appreciation for the consistent effort made by the Spanish soldiers, together with their colleagues from the Romanian Air Force. The activities conducted by the Spanish detachment over the last two months led to the enhancement of the air policing missions the Romanian Air Forces conducts during peacetime. It was a proof of Spain's commitment to NATO and of the solidarity between the allied states. A clear message that, together, we are stronger. In this context, I thanked Admiral Lopez Calderon not only for the exemplary way the experienced soldiers of the Spanish enhanced Air Policing Mission detachment concluded their mandate but also for the exceptional cooperation between our countries' Naval and Land Forces, throughout the joint training activities or the missions executed in various theaters of operations , Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu concluded.

The Press Office