On Thursday, February 2, Minister of National Defence, Angel Tilvar, and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, met with the Chief of The General Staff of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro, at the MoND Headquarters.

The meeting agenda focused on the status of defence cooperation, the developments of the security situation from the Eastern Europe as well as on the joint training program. Also, the dialogue concentrated on the status of the training of several Romanian Air Force pilots and technical personnel in the Portuguese Republic.

Minister of National Defence, Angel Tilvar, emphasized the importance of the presence of the Portuguese soldiers in our country both from the operational perspective and the trans-Atlantic and European solidarity one, considering the Russian Federation's aggression in Ukraine. Also, the minister pointed out the Portuguese contingent's contribution alongside the Polish and the North Macedonian ones as well as the contribution made by the rest of the Allied troops deployed to the HQ Multinational Brigade South-East to the new Allied defence architecture, which helps strengthening Romania's defence and security.

The Portuguese comrades' effort is part of the Allied determination in putting into practice the collective defence principle. On the other hand, the excellent relations with the Portuguese allies aim at enhancing the defence bilateral cooperation agreement, once the agreement we signed last year comes into force. We are in the stage of spurring the agreement ratification procedures, which will contribute to the development of the relations within all three formats: bilateral, NATO and EU, Minister Angel Tilvar stated.

General Daniel Petrescu reiterated his appreciation of the effort made by the Portuguese colleagues in consolidating the defence and deterrence posture on NATO's and EU's Eastern parts. The joint program aims at increasing troops' training. The joint training that began once with the deployment of the Portuguese contingent led to the increase of structures' interoperability and reaction capacity. We'll maintain the pace of the exercises and training sessions. We are interested in the Portuguese forces' participation in the Air Policing missions conducted in our country and in a more significant participation of the Romanian soldiers, alongside the Portuguese soldiers, in NATO, EU and UNO-led missions and operations the Chief of Defence Staff stated.

The talks were preceded by the awarding ceremony of the National Order Steaua Romaniei in the rank of Commander, with the peace mark for military personnel to Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro. The order was awarded by the President of Romania, as a token of appreciation of the constant interest and support provided to our country.

The high official's visit paid to our country over 1-3 February was made at the invitation of the Chief of Defence Staff. The visit agenda also included the 1st Training Battalion from Caracal - the deployment unit of the Portuguese contingent - which is part of the HQ Multinational Brigade South-East.

The Press Office