Romania and NATO

Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu had a meeting in Warsaw with his counterparts from Poland and Turkey.

Mihai Pelin, 10.06.2016, 14:09

The Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu took part in a Romanian-Poland-Turkish trilateral meeting in Warsaw, ahead of the NATO summit to be hosted by the Polish capital city in early July. The three officials discussed the security challenges in the region, and in this context they highlighted the importance of strengthening collective defence, as well as NATOs eastern flank. The Romanian Minister voiced his confidence that the NATO Summit would reconfirm the Allies unity and cohesion in a multi-dimensional approach to security challenges, irrespective of their source. He also said that ensuring NATO presence on eastern Member State territory remains of the essence, and stressed the complementary nature of the southern and northern sections of the eastern flank.

Lazar Comanescu: “We are aware of the special importance and attention that must be paid to the northern segment of NATOs eastern flank. It is equally important to pay similar attention to the eastern and south-eastern segment, because, if we look at the sources of the security threats, which are in fact threats to both security and stability, we see that they primarily occur closer to our own region, particularly the Black Sea region, including Crimea and Ukraine.

The Romanian official also emphasised the strategic importance of the Black Sea for the Euro-Atlantic security, and pleaded for consolidating and coordinating NATO and EU efforts and the relationship between NATO and its eastern partners.

Lazar Comanescu: “We have all agreed on the importance of and need for the Warsaw summit bringing about decisions that truly contribute to consolidating the Alliance capabilities and its ability to cope with these challenges. We are talking about a stronger presence of the Alliance in the region, be it ground or air presence. And what is also very important, not only for us but also for the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic region, is to identify a framework for cooperation and for the presence of the Alliance in the Black Sea region.

The trilateral talks between the Romanian, Polish and Turkish foreign ministers were initiated by Bucharest, four years ago, and are based on the convergence of national approaches to a substantial number of topics. Held in an informal format, the talks are intended to contribute to exchanging views and improving coordination within NATO.