Romanian senior official Dusa, Portugal's DefMin Lopez meet to discuss international security

The international security context, the risks and threats emerging globally and regionally, as well as the measures to be taken at both NATO and EU levels, were discussed in Bucharest on Thursday by State Secretary for Defence, Policy, Planning and International Relations with Romania's Defence Ministry (MApN) Mircea Dusa and Portuguese Defence Minister Jose Alberto Azeredo Ferreira Lopes, according to a press statement released Friday by MApN.

The two officials also discussed bilateral co-operation between Romania and Portugal.

"An important item on the agenda was the NATO summit next week and the common interests of Romania and Portugal in the adoption of coherent and balanced measures on all NATO's and EU's flanks, their eastern and southern flanks included. At the same time, another shared interest of the two countries is maritime security. Both officials support the need for NATO and EU to sign a new joint declaration that will emphasise transatlantic solidarity once again," according to MApN.

Dusa thanked the Portuguese minister for his contribution to NATO's efforts to strengthen the insurance measures on the eastern flank by dispatching a maneuver battalion to the South East Multinational Brigade in Craiova and by staffing NATO command and control components on Romania's soil. He also thanked Portugal for support to enhance air policing missions in Romania.

About the EU, the two officials agreed to intensify the Romanian-Portuguese defence dialogue to prepare Romania's holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019. Dusa mentioned that the priorities of Romania's term in office will include the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), initiatives such as the Permanent Structured Co-operation (PESCO), the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the European Defense Fund (EFD) representing European defence moving on to the next level.

Both officials praised the significant progress made with the launch of the Air Force Multirole Airplane programme.

"The Fighting Falcon Aircraft acquisition programme demonstrates its strategic importance not only at the national level but also at the regional level, strengthening Romania's capacity to respond appropriately to the deterrence and defence requirements specific to the Black Sea region, as one of the priority areas for the development of bilateral co-operation remains the technical-military one," said Dusa.

The two officials are said to have discussed the possibility of Romania and Portugal continuing to work together to achieve air defence capabilities under the Air Force Multirole Airplane programme. Dusa stressed that the immediate priority of Romania is the completion of the first F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, along with the involvement of the national defence industry in this programme.

Other areas of bilateral co-operation were also identified, including intensifying the work of the Romanian-Portuguese joint committees on defence, military intelligence, participation in multinational exercises, military education and cyber defense.

The Romanian delegation that attended the meeting also comprised Air Force General Lian Somesan, Romanian ambassador to Portugal Ioana Bivolaru, and Romanian defense attaché Adrian Duta. AGERPRES (RO - author: Cristian Lupascu, editor: Nona Jalba; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)