Minister of National Defense Gabriel Les participated on Thursday and Friday in the B9 Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Warsaw, advocating on this occasion for a coherent and comprehensive NATO approach in the long run in relation to the Black Sea region, given the persistence of the security challenges and threats in this area, informs a press release issued by the Ministry of National Defense (MApN) issued on Friday.
The Romanian official chaired one of the sessions of the meeting focusing on the support of the B9 countries for implementing the EU’s Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy, with an emphasis on the harmonization of EU security and defense initiatives alongside NATO efforts, says MApN.
On this occasion, the Romanian Defense Minister reiterated the need for B9 partners to develop concrete projects, thus proposing enhanced cooperation in the field of military mobility. Also, the B9 states will explore the opportunities for a common approach within the framework of PESCO, the quoted source further shows.
In the context of his visit to Warsaw for the B9 meeting, Gabriel Les met with the Romanian soldiers of the Anti-aircraft Defense Detachment “Blue Scorpions”, deployed on the territory of Poland, within the NATO Battle Group.
Romania’s DefMin Les, Polish counterpart discuss strengthening EU’s role in defence, security
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 two officials had talks on the side-lines of the B9 Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Warsaw.
“The two ministers highlighted the positive developments in the strategic partnership between Romania and Poland, as well as the prospects for intensifying defence co-operation as essential elements for security and stability in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea,” according to a press statement released by the Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN) on Friday.
Les highlighted the major role of Romania and Poland as promoters of the B9 Initiative in getting coalesced a consistent and unitary position of the Eastern NATO allies to be promoted jointly on NATO’s agenda.
“At the same time, the Romanian official highlighted the achievements made by the incumbent Romanian presidency of the EU Council, with emphasis on promoting European security and defence initiatives – the Permanent Structured Co-operation and the European Defence Fund,” according to MApN.
