Romania's DefMin Fifor meets Canadian, Italian and Turkish counterparts in Brussels

Romania's Defence Minister Mihai Fifor had bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Canada, Italy and Turkey as part of his participation in Brussels in a meeting of the NATO defense ministers whom he invited officially to participate in the events to be organised in Bucharest on December 1, the National Day of Romania, as 100 years since the Greater Union are celebrated.

According to the Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN), during talks with Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan, the significant progress made with military co-operation at both bilateral and NATO level was highlighted, as well as favourable prospects for strengthening it.

"The Romanian minister of national defence thanked Minister Sajjan particularly for the substantial contributions made by Canada to strengthening defence on the eastern flank of NATO and in the Black Sea region under NATO's tailored Forward Presence (tFP), for all three dimensions - air, navy and land, voicing hope that, given the developments in the security environment, the level of these contributions will be kept up for the next period."

Sajjan highlighted the complex nature of the security challenges in the Black Sea, highlighting Canada's intention to continue its military presence in the region as a strong and concrete message of NATO solidarity, according to MApN.

"Minister Mihai Fifor mentioned the excellent co-operation with the Canadian partner, highlighting the importance of the Enforced Air Police Mission, currently being conducted in Romania by the Canadian Royal Air Force alongside the Romanian Air Force."

An important point of the discussion regarded collaboration in the field of psychological assistance, with Fifor thanking the Canadian Army for valuable support given for the elaboration of the establishment of a national centre of operational psychology in Bucharest.

Discussed at the meeting with Italian Minister of Defence Elisabetta Trenta were the development of defence co-operation relations under the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Fifor commended Italy for its contribution to the implementation of eastern flank reinsurance measures under the TFP by assuming staff positions with the Multinational Brigade Command and underlined the interest of the Romanian side in strengthening the participation of the Italian partner in the manning NATO organisations operating in Romania.

According to MApN, Fifor asked Italy for support in materialising Romania's offer to host the Multinational Corps South East - MNC-SE.

The Italian Minister thanked Romania for consistent contributions to the implementation of the measures to strengthen NATO defence on the southern flank, as Romania has taken up 26 functions with NATO organisations hosted by Italy, as well as for excellent co-operation between the two armed forces in the NATO operations in Afghanistan, Western Balkans and Iraq.

The two ministers agreed on the need to continue the political-military strategic dialogue, to develop co-operation in the field of joint training of military structures and industrial co-operation for the development of defence capabilities.

The meeting with Turkey's Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar focused mainly on to the security situation in the Black Sea region and the possibilities for developing bilateral military co-operation.

Fifor stressed the need for a unitary approach of defending the eastern flank of NATO from north to south, as agreed upon at the NATO Brussels Summit where, at the request of Romania, security in the Black Sea was a distinct item on the agenda.

According to MApN, Akar mentioned Turkey's support for the implementation of reassurance measures for the eastern flank and emphasised his country's interest in developing co-operation relations in the military technical field, mentioning untapped potential that could bring considerable benefits to both sides.

The two ministers agreed on the need to continue the military strategic dialogue in order to harmonise the positions of the two parties on the implementation of collective security measures in the region.

Fifor extended to his counterparts official invitations to take part in the events to be organised in Bucharest on December 1, the National Day of Romania, as 100 years since the Greater Union are celebrated. AGERPRES (RO - author: Cristian Lupascu, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)