NATO Secretary General Inaugurates Force Integration Unit in Romania

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg inaugurated a NATO Forces Integration Unit (NFIU) in Bucharest as part of his visit to Romania on Thursday.

This is one of six small headquarters, which will be stationed across the eastern part of the Alliance to facilitate planning, exercises and potential reinforcements, the other five to be situated in Bulgaria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

During his visit, Stoltenberg expressed gratitude to Romania for its contribution to the security of the Alliance.

The Secretary General met Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu and Defence Minister Mircea Dusa.

Together they discussed challenges to the security of the Alliance from the east and south and NATO's continued adaptation to face them.

At a joint press conference with Iohannis, Stoltenberg pointed to Romania as being a "steadfast Ally", highlighting that "NATO counts on Romania and Romania can count on NATO".

The Secretary General commended Romania's strong engagement in NATO-led missions and operations from Afghanistan to Kosovo.

Stoltenberg praised Romania for its support for partner countries, such as Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.

According to him, Romania has made important contributions to stability in the Black Sea region and hosting an important part of NATO's defence missile system.

He welcomed the increase in Romanian defence spending and the political commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence by 2017.

Stoltenberg revealed that Romania will also host NATO's new Multinational Divisional Headquarters South-East.