Balkan Countries CHOD Forum

The Chief of Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, participated in the sixteenth edition of the Balkan Countries CHOD Forum that was held at Sofia, Bulgaria, over 17-19 May.

The and ways of increasing defence cooperation among the states from the Balkans, the joint training and the management of the asymmetric threats were some of the topics listed on the Forum’s agenda.

During the conference, the Chiefs of Defence signed the Joint Statement, which conveys the cooperation guidelines over the next period, as well as the development of jointly initiated projects. At the same time, the Chiefs of Defence approved the conclusions of the working sub workinggroups in the fields of education, training and exercises, respectively the asymmetric threats, and appreciated the activity carried out under the Bulgarian Presidency of the initiative.

General Daniel Petrescu emphasized the fact that the dynamics of the regional security situation requires affirming the commitment of increasing military cooperation in the Balkans. "The Joint Statement identifies concrete ways to increase collaboration, such as those in the field of cyber defence, but also those referred in the force training plan to increase interoperability," said the Chief of Defence.

As part of the conference, General Daniel Petrescu had a bilateral meeting with his counterpart from Turkey, General Yașar Güler.

* * *

The forum is held annually and brings together the Chiefs of Defence from nine countries in South-Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. It aims at boosting regional military cooperation by strengthening security and ensuring a climate of stability in the Balkan region, identifying and developing a regional crisis management mechanism and joint participation in exercises in order to increase the interoperability of the armed forces in the region. Chiefs of Defence from Croatia and Slovenia, as well as high-level representatives of NATO and EU, were also invited to this edition of the conference.

The Press Office