Common Security and Defence Policy

The accession of North Macedonia to NATO will contribute to the improvement of the security environment in the Balkans, National Defence Minister Gabriel Les stated on Tuesday, on the occasion of the visit to Bucharest of his counterpart of the Republic of North Macedonia Radmila Sekerinska-Jankovska.

Defence Minister Gabriel Les met on Thursday in Helsinki with his Greek counterpart, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of EU defence ministers; the two top officials discussed the "excellent Romanian - Greek military cooperation", the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) said in a release.

While holding the presidency of the EU Council, Romanian officials proved Romania's ability to contribute to the added value of the European Union, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said in Strasbourg on Tuesday at a plenary session of the European Parliament.

NATO and EU officials, along with representatives of organisations dealing with foreign affairs and national security, and academics will be participating in a three-day "Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum" international conference that is starting in the Black Sea resort of Mamaia this after-noon.

The EU Council today reported a rise in defense spending over the past two years. According to data for 2018, the increase in these expenses was 3.3 per cent, and this year is expected to reach 4.6 per cent.

Senior official for defence policy, planning and international affairs with Romania's Defence Ministry (MApN) Nicolae Nasta will be attending, 13 - 14 May, along with defence and foreign ministers of the EU member states, a Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting and a meeting of European Defense Agency's (EDA) Steering Committee in the format of defence ministers to be held in Brussels.

Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu on Wednesday, in the opening of the "Nato@70 - CSDP@20: A partnership for the future" conference, organised on the sidelines of Romania's Presidency at the EU Council, said that the transatlantic relation remains "essential to the European security and prosperity" and underscored the importance of strengthening this relation.

Strengthening the security and defense dimension of the EU, the strategic partnership between Romania and Poland and their joint contribution to strengthening the NATO forward presence were the main topics of discussion between Romania's Defence Minister Gabriel Les and his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak.

The European Defence Fund (EDF) is one of the most important initiatives of the European defence package which aims to tackle the current and future security needs of Europe, National Defence Minister Gabriel Les stated on Tuesday.

The following interview with German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen appeared in Kathimerini Cyprus on March 17.