NATO SecGen Stoltenberg confirms presence at informal meeting of defence ministers of EU member states to be held in Bucharest

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg confirmed his attendance to the informal meeting of defence ministers of the EU member states, which is schedule to take place in Bucharest on 30 and 31 January, National Defence Gabriel Les told AGERPRES on Thursday.

According to him, the meeting that will be carried out in the attendance of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR) Federica Mogherini will start on 30 January with a session of debates within a working dinner provided by the Romanian side, with talks on the area of shared interest of the UN, NATO and the EU, namely "Women, Peace and Security."

"Also invited to participated in the debates were NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who also confirmed the presence, as well as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix," Les mentioned.

The Defence Minister points out that on 31 January "in-depth discussions with be carried out regarding the implementation stage of the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, with an emphasis on the progress recorded in conducting the initiatives of the defence area."

"Moreover, we will carry out debates on the sidelines of the manners to ensure the coherence of various initiative in the European defence area, in view of transposing into practice the decisions of the EU Council, as well as the use of optimal instruments at the EU disposal for capitalising on the potential of innovation and technological research to support the armed force of the member stares," the Minister stated.

Minister Gabriel Les also mentioned that the informal meeting of defence ministers of the EU member states, which is the first event at ministerial level to be organised in Romania since taking over the Presidency of the EU Council, "aims a common reflection and an exchange of views on strengthening the European project, with an emphasis on the security and defence dimension." AGERPRES (RO - author: Cristian Lupascu, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Rodica State, editor: Adina Panaitescu)

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