Prime minister, Victor Ponta has met the US Secretary of Defence, Chuck Hagel during his working visit in Washington, a release sent to Agerpres by the Romanian Government on Thursday morning, reads.
During the meeting at the Pentagon, “the constant preoccupation of the Romanian Government was restated for the strengthening of the bilateral cooperation in Defence, as a pillar of the Strategic Partnership between Romanian and the United States of America,” also highlighting “the ample support in Romania for the consolidation of the US, NATO staff’s presence in our country.”
“Romania’s contribution to the international operations, in Afghanistan in particular, and the excellent bilateral collaboration in these operations, were appreciated,” the source adds.
The two officials also tackled the regional evolutions in Eastern Europe, and in this context the Romanian Prime minister reiterated Romania’s strong position regarding the Russian Federation’s actions in Ukraine.
Victor Ponta underlined “the crucial importance of the solidarity of all the EU, NATO member states as against the East European challenges.”
Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby summarized the meeting, reporting that Hagel thanked Ponta for the Romanian government’s offer to commit more troops to the mission in Afghanistan, as well as Romania’s continued strong support in other NATO and coalition activities.
The readout of the meeting provided by the Pentagon Press Secretary and published on the website of the U.S. Department of Defense notes that Hagel and Ponta met briefly last June when the secretary travelled to Constanta, Romania, to thank U.S. and coalition troops at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base.
“In his concluding remarks, Minister Ponta thanked Secretary Hagel for his attention to Black Sea security issues and his stewardship of the Department of Defense during a period of unrest for NATO allies,” Kirby said.
*DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Sean Hurt
