Sate Secretary for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Simona Cojocaru, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, met with the State Secretary for Defence Policy, National Defence Planning and Military Interoperability from the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Moldova, Valeriu Mija, on Tuesday, 23rd November, at the MoND headquarters.

The meetings were part of the program of the Sixth Romanian- Moldovan Joint Board Reunion in the field of Defence, which takes place over 22nd 24th November.

During the meeting with State Secretary Simona Cojocaru, the officials approached the development of the defence bilateral cooperation and the continuous dialogue with a view of identifying new common interest projects in order to consolidate the support offered by Romania in the modernization and enhancement of operational capability as well as in increasing the interoperability level between the Romanian and Moldovan armed forces.

At the same time, the two officials approached aspects regarding the cooperation within the initiatives and instruments dedicated to the NATO and EU partner states, with focus on the implementation of the NATO Package for the consolidation of the defence capability and the projects dedicated to the European Peace Facility designated for the Republic of Moldova. The officials emphasized the need to ensure complementarity of NATO and EU efforts with those made at bilateral level.

The Romanian official restated our country's firm support throughout the Republic of Moldova's integration process into EU, as well as our commitment to consolidate cooperation both at bilateral level an within regional initiatives and international organizations. The Bilateral Cooperation Plan for 2022 was signed during the Joint Military Board Reunion. The paper provides the legislative framework necessary to consolidate bilateral defence cooperation. We wish to focus on certain key areas such as joint training, military education, special operations forces and communications, the Romanian state secretary stated.

The talks agenda with Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu focused on the support offered by Romania, as a NATO member, in order to modernize the Moldovan National Armed Forces, consolidate bilateral relations and increase the joint training activities of both armed forces.

The activities of the Romanian- Moldovan Joint Board in the field of Defence conducted by groups of military experts focus on the transformation process and the reform of the defence sector as well as education, training, interoperability, cybernetic defence and bilateral cooperation for year 2022.

The Press Office