Romanian-British Strategic Relations
The British partners presence in Romania is more than a consistent contribution to the effort of implementing assurance measures, as it also conveys a strong message of allied solidarity, says Romanian defence minister, Mihai Fifor
Mihai Pelin, 03.08.2018, 13:38
Romania plays a key role within NATO, says the British Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, who paid a visit to Romania on Thursday. He had a meeting in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart, Mihai Fifor. During the talks, the Romanian defence minister requested British support in the process of rendering the NATO army corps headquarters operational, as Roamnia has expressed its readiness, at the recent summit of the alliance, to host such a structure on its territory. The security situation in the Black Sea region was also one of the focal points of the talks in Bucharest.
Mihai Fifor: “Weve mentioned the Russian Federations political and military aggressiveness and its intention to militarise the Black Sea by increasing the number of military troops in the region and deploying new capabilities with a predominantly offensive potential, from all categories of the armed forces. The Russian Federation focuses its efforts on hybrid tactics and actions, with the aim of undermining the internal stability of both former Soviet states and of the allied countries situated in its vicinity, fuelling the so-called ‘frozen conflicts.
In turn, Gavin Williamson said his country will provide military support to the NATO Brigade in Craiova, south-western Romania, and gave assurances that Great Britain will further contribute to consolidating European security, post-Brexit, as it had actually done long before the EU took shape.
The two officials paid a visit to the RoAF 57th Air Base in Constanta County, in the south-east. They met with British military operating the aircraft belonging to the Royal Air Force and with the Romanian personnel of the military base. Mihai Fifor thanked the approximately 160 British military who carry out air police missions by August 31, flying four Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, alongside the MIG 21 Lancer aircraft operated by their colleagues from the Romanian Air Forces.
Mihai Fifor: “It is an immense pleasure to me to reiterate our appreciation for the presence in Romania of Great Britains Royal Air Force. I take this opportunity to restate our common wish to continue this cooperation, which is extremely valuable to Romania; it is a team effort made by a team of professionals. I wish you good luck in your future missions, smooth flights and clear skies!
Mihai Fifor has also said the British partners presence in Romania is a message of solidarity within the North-Atlantic Alliance, a fact also confirmed by Gavin Williamson. The efforts made by the military are extremely important as they bring more safety to the people living on the whole European continent, and the partnership between the two nations will be brought to a higher level, the British official has also underlined. The two officials have also had another private meeting, afterwards they talked to the military stationed at the base before flying back to Bucharest.
