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DefMin Dusa: US troops pulling out of Afghanistan to pass through Kogalniceanu base, Constanta Port
The U.S. troops to pull out of Afghanistan operation theatres will be able to return to the United States via Romania, using Mihail Kogalniceanu base and the Black Sea port of Constanta (southeastern Romania), following an agreement Romania and the U.S. discussed at the Pentagon, where Romanian National Defence Minister Mircea Dusa paid an official visit on Thursday and Friday.
'I also discussed (with U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel - editor's note) about the way that we can cooperate next year with respect to the multi-modal transport, namely that way that we will operate at Kogalniceanu base and Constanta Port, given that as the troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan, we have given our agreement in principle that the Kogalniceanu Airport traffic should increase and that we should make available the capabilities there for the return of the U.S. troops and military capabilities back to the United States', Dusa told AGERPRES on Saturday.
He explained that for this to actually happen, NATO must first draw up its plan regarding the troops who are to operate in Afghanistan in 2014.
'NATO activity must be planned, the plans must be drawn up as regards the troops who are to operate in Afghanistan in 2014 and, depending on NATO planning, these objectives will, of course, be set too. Anyway, the U.S. side has up until now operated at Kogalniceanu too, even during the war in Iraq', the minister added.
During the official visit to the United States, Dusa had talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Timothy Hagel, Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller and Frank Rose, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense Policy and Verification Operations.
He also met Buck McKeon, chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the U.S. House of Representatives and Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
It was for the first time in many years that a Romanian defence minister paid an official visit to the Pentagon.
On this occasion, Dusa made U.S. Secretary of Defense Hagel an invitation to pay an official visit to Romania next year. 'Mr Hagel is a great admirer of Romania. I remember that back in 2003-2004 he made serious lobbying for Romania to be accepted into NATO and that is why I made him the invitation to pay an official visit to Romania next year, on the occasion of the events we will stage to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Romania's joining NATO', the defence minister said.
Romania-US Strategic Partnership - Romania's fundamental foreign, defence policy direction
The international security climate, the manner of developing NATO military capabilities by means of the Smart Defence projects amid the global economic crisis and insufficient budget allotments to defence as well as the main aspects relating the Romanian-U.S. Strategic Partnership on defence were the main topics addressed by Romanian National Defence Minister Mircea Dusa and U.S. Secretary of Defence Charles Timothy Hagel during an official visit paid by Dusa to the Pentagon, the ministry has announced in a release.
The two officials tackled the programme for the Romanian Army's equipping with F-16 multi-purpose jets and the pilots' training, the cooperation with a view to the pullout of troops and materials from Afghanistan and the phase in the missile shield located at Deveselu (southern Romania), the ministry's press office said.
On the Deveselu issue, Dusa underscored Romania has met all the commitments at the set deadlines and it will keep on accomplishing all the other tasks so that the project might be finalized.
Afghanistan was another highlight of the talks, with the Romanian defence minister stressing the post-2014 period will mean a new transformation phase, when Romania stays committed to maintaining the Alliance cohesion and solidarity.
The medical treatment given the Romanian troops in the U.S. hospitals and the support offered the Romanian military for them to carry out the missions were topics underscored by the Romanian delegation during the meeting.
Dusa and Hagel agreed to look for ways to boost the defence cooperation and back Romania's efforts of becoming a leader in the region, the release said.
At the end of the talks, the Romanian minister made his U.S. counterpart an invitation to attend the events to be held on the 10th anniversary of Romania's NATO accession and the 20th anniversary of its joining the Partnership for Peace.
The U.S. secretary of defence answered the invitation and said he was extremely satisfied with Romania's development in NATO, the ministry underscored.
Post-2014 NATO, missile shield are topics dealt with by DefMin at U.S. Atlantic Council debate
Post-2014 NATO and the role of the missile shield were the topics of an address made by Romanian National Defence Minister Mircea Dusa to the debate organized by the United States' Atlantic Council on the issue of The Phase in the USA-Romania Programmes, the National Defence Ministry announced in a release on Friday.
'We enter a new period of the Alliance, with the pull-out from Afghanistan. The completion of the biggest allied operation offers opportunities to re-size the priorities and commitments. NATO agenda, moreover, needs a new generation of opportunities with respect to the development of the defence capabilities', Dusa said in his address.
The minister stressed Romania remains one of the most active supporters of the development of NATO missile defence capability, with the U.S. programme for the development of the anti-missile system in Europe being in accordance with the common commitment regarding the setting up of an adequate allied architecture on missile defence.
'The location at Deveselu (southern Romania) is one of the most important pillars of the Romania-U.S. Strategic Partnership on security and a valuable contribution to the development of NATO relevant capabilities', the Romanian defence minister told the participants.
'The main message that the Council representatives sent the meeting was that there is need of an active Alliance, which should answer such threats as terrorism, conflicts, cyber-threats and illegal weapons trafficking. The agenda of the talks also included issues relating the programme for equipping the Romanian Air Forces with F-16 multi-purpose jets, the ministry's budget, the security situation in Syria and the importance of the task forces', the release said.