Supreme Allied Commander Transformation visits Romania

Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), General Philippe Lavigne, pays a visit to Romania over 10-12 October, following the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu.

The working schedule of the NATO high official comprised a meeting with State Secretary for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Simona Cojocaru, at the MoND Headquarters, on October 10. The two officials approached the main topics of the allied agenda which will also be tackled during the upcoming reunion of the NATO Defence Ministers. In this context, the SACT presented the main concerns of the Allied Command Transformation/ACT, by emphasizing the importance of the steps made to implement the decisions adopted at the Madrid Summit.

During the meetings with the Chief of Defence Staff, the officials focused on the assessment of the security situation which had been significantly affected by the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine as well as on the consolidation of the deterrence and defence posture, especially on the defensive reconfiguration of the Eastern Flank. General Daniel Petrescu stated that “the significant allied presence from the Black Sea Region represents both a consolidation of the allied shield in this area and a vector of the enhanced national defence capacity, including the increase of the reaction capacity of the Romanian Armed Forces’ force structure”.

General Philippe Lavigne appreciated that Europe is currently facing the biggest security challenge after World War II, by emphasizing Romania’s commitment to NATO and stating that trans-Atlantic unity is more important than ever. “Our dialogue was an opportunity to share our perspectives with regard to several subjects. He helped me have a better understanding of the Romanian approach of the regional security context”, SACT stated.

An important objective of General Philippe Lavigne’s visit to Romania is the participation in the NATO Layered Resilience Seminar which takes place at the National Military Club, over 10-12 October. During the working sessions of the seminar, SACT will make a presentation of the fourth edition of the “NATO Innovation Challenge” Project, a competition open to the member states’ companies whose innovative solutions contribute to the placing of the Alliance in the top of the technological development. In the context of the ACT’s strategic interest for the NATO technological development, General Daniel Petrescu presented the ways by which our country can contribute to the initiative coordinated by this command, “Defence Innovative Accelerator for the North-Atlantic/DIANA”, which implements innovative solutions for the military capabilities.

SACT agenda also includes meetings with the command team of Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East in Sibiu and meetings with troops from the Battle Group Forward Presence deployed in Cincu.

The Press Office