On Thursday, August 31, a delegation of the Ministry of National Defence, headed by the State Secretary for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Simona Cojocaru, participated in Kumanovo locality, in North Macedonia, in the hand-over/take-over ceremony of the Chairmanship of the regional initiative of the SEDM Meeting, which Romania will hold for a two year-period.

In the context of the same event, the hand-over ceremony of the South-East European Brigade (SEEBRIG) command also took place, with Brigadier General Evangelos Mitroutsikos (Greece) handing over the command to Brigadier General Bilbil Bitri (Albania), as well as the celebration of the 24 years since the establishment of SEEBRIG.

"Strong partnerships, together with an increased regional cooperation, are the key to success in ensuring a balanced climate in our region. This, together with the express display of solidarity among the SEDM members, projects stability. We live in a time of strategic competition and return of power politics, while also facing complex security threats that must be addressed. The war of aggression waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine has increased geopolitical tensions both within the extended region and beyond. We continue to remain united and take proactive actions to express solidarity with Ukraine and to consolidate our own security", State Secretary Simona Cojocaru stated, as acting president of SEDM.

The Romanian official also referred to the significance of the motto of the Romanian chairmanship: Resilience, Commitment, Stability! It highlights the essential role of member states in maintaining stability in the region and identifying new ways of managing threats posed to regional and international security. She also expressed her appreciation of the Bulgarian chairmanship, by congratulating Deputy Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov and the entire Bulgarian Secretariat.

Increasing the effectiveness and relevance of the SEDM Initiative as an important regional cooperation platform in the field of defence, enhancing the interoperability and capabilities of the South-East Europe Brigade - SEEBIRG, developing the political-military dialogue within SEDM in order to generate practical ideas, but also the successful management of new or the on-going projects listed on the agenda of the initiative are some of the priorities of the Romanian chairmanship.

Romania's taking-over of the SEDM chairmanship, an initiative that includes 15 member states and the Republic of Moldova, as an observer, is a good opportunity to increase the national profile at regional level by materializing the proposed objectives, as well as to consolidate Romania's role as a security provider through a successful revitalization of the SEDM initiative, especially in the current strategic context marked by the war in Ukraine, a member state of the initiative. This represents the third take-over of the SEDM chairmanship by Romania, the previous ones taking place over 2001-2003 and respectively 2013-2015.

As part of the activity, State Secretary Cojocaru, as acting president of SEDM, had an informal meeting with the heads of delegations of the SEEBRIG nations (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Turkey) and with the new commander of the Brigade, Brigadier General Bilbil Bitri, on the perspectives of developing and consolidating SEEBRIG. Later, in order to get familiar with the structure and specifics of the brigade, the SEEBRIG Commander offered the Romanian delegation a tour of the Brigade Command.

Also, as part of the same event in Kumanovo, the Romanian State Secretary had a meeting with the Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Defence, Atanas Zapryanov, during which they approached the status and perspectives of joint projects initiated in the field of bilateral and regional defence cooperation. In this context, State Secretary Cojocaru assured his counterpart of the continuation of the on-going projects initiated during the Bulgarian chairmanship, while Deputy Minister Zapryanov, in his turn, assured the Romanian side of all support in reaching the ambitious goal of exploiting SEEBRIG to its full potential.

The Press Office