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President Iohannis to attend on Thursday the meeting of NATO heads of state and government in Brussels
President Klaus Iohannis will attend on Thursday the meeting of NATO heads of state and government in Brussels, context in which he will point out, among others, that Romania is a predictable, serious and responsible ally and will endorse the enhancement of the Alliance's role in fighting terrorism.
The head of state will have, on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels, a bilateral meeting with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, whom he will discus with about the strengthening of the bilateral Strategic Partnership and joint action within the NATO and in the region.
According to a release of the Presidential Administration, the Brussels meeting's goal is to reconfirm the Alliance's fundamental values, such as unity, solidarity, cohesion of member states, as well as solidarity of the transatlantic relation.
President Iohannis will attend, alongside other heads of state and government, a ceremony marking the handover of the new NATO headquarters and the inauguration of monuments dedicated to the Article 5 and the Berlin Wall.
The head of state will attend the working dinner of the heads of state and government, occasion on which he will highlight, according to the Presidential Administration, aspects that make Romania a predictable, serious and responsible ally.
"Romania's President will underscore that our country is a consistent contributor to the allied advanced presence on the Eastern flank of NATO for strengthening the Alliance's deterrence and defence posture," the release of the Presidential Administration reveals.
The Presidential Administration underscores that, in less than one year since the adoption of decisions of the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Romania has recorded significant progresses on a national level, that is also relevant in the context of the high-level meeting on Thursday, such as: framing and making operational the multinational brigade in Craiova, with the participation of servicemen from other NATO member states; planning large multinational exercises in our country and in the region throughout this year; increasing the NATO naval presence in the Black Sea, according to the decision adopted at the NATO meeting of defence ministers in February 2017; achieving a consistent allied air presence on Romania's soil and the participation of 120 Romanian servicemen in NATO's advanced presence in Poland within the structure led by the US.
The head of state will reiterate also the importance and solidarity of the transatlantic presence in the context of maintaining the firm commitment of the US towards the NATO.
"Romania allocating 2 percent of the GDP for Defence strengthens our country's profile as an allied, framework in which it's important for the allocated amounts to be effectively spent in 2017," the Presidential Administration mentions.
According to the quoted source, since the beginning of his tenure, President Iohannis has promoted and endorsed the national political consensus for allocating 2 percent for the defence sector, that starts to materialize this year.
President Iohannis will also support the increase of NATO's role in fighting terrorism, in areas that can add value. Romania contributes to the allied and international efforts for fighting terrorism by participating with Romanian servicemen in NATO mission in Afghanistan, and, as of this year, through counseling offered to security forces in Iraq.
The head of state will also reconfirm the importance of strengthening the deterrence and defence posture of NATO on the Eastern flank, according to the allied commitment assumed at the Summit last year. He will reiterate the necessity of a unitary and coherent approach of the entire Eastern flank, for increasing the efficiency of the NATO's deterrence measures.
President Klaus Iohannis will also plead for maintaining an allied action unity towards Russia and will endorse a comprehensive and geographically balanced approach of NATO stability policy, both on the southern direction and the eastern one, taking into account the allies' necessity to keep in mind eastern neighborhood and, implicitly, support for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.
"This year's NATO meeting is convergent to Romania's objectives of strengthening the allied solidarity, comprehensive and integrated approach of the Euro-Atlantic security and reconfirmation of the transatlantic tie's importance for our security. Moreover, it corresponds to Romania's foreign and security policies regarding the consolidation of our profile in the NATO and deepening the Strategic Partnership with the US," the Presidential Administration points out.
The meeting in Brussels offers the occasion to US President Donald Trump and new French President Emmanuel Macron to have their first encounters with counterparts of allied countries.
The meeting will be attended by heads of state and government from 28 member states and the Montenegrin Prime Minister is also to attend the Summit, taking into account that Parliaments of the NATO states have ratified Montenegro's accession to NATO.