Minister of National Defence, Teodor Atanasiu held discussions in Sofia with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolai Svinarov on the issues of security in the areas where the two countries have important interests with stress on the Western Balkans.

They also talked on the possibility of NATO implications on the issues of security in the Black Sea, such a perspective being imposed by the existence of the frozen conflicts in Black Sea region and the situation in the Caucasus, Romania and Bulgaria having common interests at the NATO Eastern border.

Another theme of the talks was the Southeastern European Brigade (SEEBRIG), agreeing that the possible deployment to Afghanistan should be discussed with the ministers of Defence of all the states contributing to this multinational unit.

Ministers Atanasiu and Svinarov also talked about the situation in Iraq and the participation of the two states soldiers in international operations. On this occasion Atanasiu re-affirmed Romania's position in continuing the mission in Iraq until this country's stabilization and in contributing to the training of the Iraqi troops.

MoND Press Office