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DefMin Motoc underscores importance of NATO's partnerships with Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine
On Wednesday, on the second day of a meeting in Brussels of NATO defence ministers, Romania's Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc underscored the importance of NATO continuing its investment in partnerships with Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, Romania's Defence Ministry (MApN) reports in a press statement.
MApN says the defence ministers analysed and approved reports on NATO's commitment to Afghanistan, its contribution to projecting stability in the southern and eastern neighbourhoods of the Euro-Atlantic community, the operationalisation of its Allied Maritime Strategy and its involvement in the management of the refugee and migrant crisis in the Aegean Sea.
"Minister Motoc underscored the need for a comprehensive and consistent approach in projecting stability to the east and the south starting from the need for NATO actions to complement the efforts or other engaged players. Motoc also underscored the need for NATO continuing to invest in its partnerships with Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine," says MapN.
În this context, Minister Mihnea Motoc assessed with his Ukrainian counterpart Stepan Poltorak the security situation in the Black Sea region and emphasized the collaboration possibilities among the NATO allied and partner riparian states in the area.
The two ministers talked during the NATO - Ukraine reunion, on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting in Brussels, says a release sent by the National Defence Ministry (MApN).
Motoc restated Romania's support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and confirmed the support for the neighbour country's efforts to strengthen its defence capacity and boost its partnership with the Alliance.
As far as the latest developments in the operationalisation of the Allied Maritime Strategy are concerned, Motoc highlighted the importance of the Black Sea zone to the allied strategic talks and preserving the relevance of the NATO standing naval forces for the implementation of assurance and consolidation of deterrence and defence posture.
Talking about the NATO presence in Afghanistan, Motoc reconfirmed Romania's substantial commitment to the Resolute Support mission for the entire year 2016, informing the NATO ministers about the availability in principle to preserve the same level of participation in 2017 as well, depending on the NATO planning and actual on-site circumstances.
Romania's Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc on Tuesday also took the opportunity to present his Italian counterpart Roberta Pinotti the initiatives of establishing an advanced presence of NATO in the Black Sea region and in Romania, asking Italy's support to include these initiatives in the package of decisions to be taken at the Allied Summit in Warsaw, in July.
According to a release of the Ministry of National Defence (MApN), the two ministers met on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting at defence ministers level. The two officials approached topics of Romania-Italy relations in defence matters, and the main points and decisions of the forthcoming NATO Summit.
They "pleaded for the need of consolidating the Alliance's deterrence and defence stance, in order to meet the challenges of the current security environment, including those rooted in the southern flank," the document reads.
Motoc and Pinotti agreed that the bilateral cooperation should be enhanced based on the existing potentials of Romanian and Italian armed forces and within the framework provided by the consolidated strategic partnership of Romania and Italy.