Bulgarian Chief of Defense meets leadership of Romanian Defense Ministry

Minister of National Defense Nicolae Ciuca and Chief of Romania's Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, met today at the Ministry's headquarters with Bulgarian Chief of Defense, Admiral Emil Eftim, who is on a visit to Romania until Thursday, the Defense Ministry said in a release. According to the cited document, "the talks focused on increasing participation in joint training activities, developing the two states' commitments in the field of regional security and strengthening NATO's assurance measures in the Black Sea area." In this context, Minister Ciuca welcomed the good level of bilateral military cooperation with Bulgaria, which "can strengthen regional stability and increase the preparedness of the troops of the two states". The agenda of the Chiefs of Defense included meetings with the commands of the South-East Multinational Brigade, 8th Multiple Rocket Launcher Brigade and 282nd Armored Brigade, as well as visits to static exhibitions with the units' war hardware and combat equipment. The two officials also participated in the inauguration of the new stadium of the Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club. Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu voiced his opinion that a good cohesion of the troops has been achieved as a result of the consistent participation of the Romanian and Bulgarian land forces in the "Strike Back 21", "Steadfast Defender 21" and "Defender Europe 21" exercises. The constant cooperation in Blue Bridge-type training exercises through joint air policing missions in the border area has helped increase the interoperability of the air forces of the two countries, he remarked. The cooperation between the two navies, materialized in the participation in the annual multinational exercises "Poseidon", "Sea Shield", "Breeze", as well as in the presence in the "NATO Sea Guardian" operation has contributed to building maritime security capacity, increasing the efficiency of the early warning system and to the integrated application of counter-terrorism measures in the naval field. "We stay open to increasing the number of training events under the Allied Joint Training Program to improve our joint response capacity. As neighboring and allied Black Sea states, we aim to ensure stability in this region. Bilateral cooperation, as well as cooperation in EU and NATO formats remain solid milestone for improving the regional security climate. The support for the allied defensive capabilities deployed to various countries demonstrates the willingness of the two armies to work together for the achievement of the deterrence and defense posture on NATO's South-East flank," said Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu. On the sidelines of the visit, Admiral Emil Eftimov met with Bulgarian servicemen stationed in Romania in multinational structures; his program also includes meetings with the command teams of the Southeast Multinational Division and the 74th PATRIOT Regiment. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)