Jans Stoltenberg praises Romania’s commitment within NATO, Klaus Iohannis invites him to visit Romania.
NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg on Friday praised Romania for its contribution in Afghanistan and Kosovo, but also for being a strong ally. During a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Brussels, Stoltenberg hailed Romania’s “strong commitment” within the NATO, adding he met Romanian soldiers in Afghanistan and that he was impressed by their professionalism and determination.
“We are grateful for you contribution to Afghanistan mission. What you did in Afghanistan and what you are still doing is to fight against terrorism,” NATO Secretary General said, also praising Romania’s contribution to the security missions in Kosovo and for its contributions in the development of the missile shield.
According to Stoltenberg, NATO and Romania included are set to keep the stability in the region. “We discussed how we can do that, to support both R.Moldova and Ukraine to subscribe to the stability process in the region,” he stated, adding he talked with President Iohannis about enforcing the Action Plan for raising NATO reaction capacity, which means a higher NATO presence on the Eastern flank.
Jens Stoltenberg also pointed out that Klaus Iohannis’ visit at NATO HQs soon after he took office as president represents Romania’s steadfast commitment to the Alliance and to the collective defence.
NATO official also praised Romania’s decision to raise the defence expenditure to 2 pct of the Gross Domestic Product by 2017. “This is an example for other states and we are going to use Romania as example for other countries, saying that if Romania did this thing it had committed to, it is important for Romania, for the entire Alliance and an example for many other allies, Stoltenberg said in Brussels, in a joint conference with President Klaus Iohannis.
In his turn, the Romanian president reiterated his invitation to NATO Secretary General to visit Romania, saying the appropriate moment for that is to be agreed.
“My visit confirms Romania’s steadfast commitment to our North-Atlantic partners (….) Romania’s NATO and EU membership, as well as the Strategic Partnership with the U.S. represent the basis of our foreign and security policy,” Iohannis told the joint press conference. He also pointed out he agreed with the NATO Secretary General on the need that NATO solidarity should be reconfirmed.
“In this respect, Romania finds extremely important to bring the decisions of the last NATO summit into force, regarding the security reassurance for the allied countries in the region,” Iohannis said.