Ministry of National Defence of Romania
Ministry of National Defence of Romania
05/12/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/13/2022 04:30
Reunion of the Chiefs of European Navies at Bucharest
In the context of the current security challenges posed to the European maritime space, CHENS contributes to the consolidation of an overall vision of the representatives of the European Naval Forces with respect to the cooperation in this field and facilitates the debates on certain current defining concepts of the C2 mechanism as well as to the development of the military dialogue at a higher level and military cooperation in the naval area.
Our country has been holding the presidency of this European forum since last year and the Chief of the Naval Forces Staff, Rear Admiral Mihai Panait, will hand over the command to his Irish counterpart, Commodore Michael Malone.
Defence Minister Vasile Dîncu, who attended the official opening festivity of the activity, saluted the presence in Romania of the 25 chiefs of naval forces of the EU and NATO states as well as of the representatives of the NATO Allied Maritime Command and the US Sixth Fleet, who hold the observer status.
In his allocution, the defence minister referred to the Ukraine war and the tensed situation from the Black Sea by specifying that "we all live extremely hard times here, in the Black Sea Region, because of the Russian Federation's military aggression against a sovereign and independent state, such as Ukraine".
"Your presence at Bucharest is even more relevant because of the context the battles are fought in the Black Sea, the Russian forces being so close to the Danube mouths, on The Snake Island. Romania has been monitoring this situation and the potential development of the conflict towards Odessa very carefully, being also preoccupied with the fact that the Black Sea isn't practically open to the international traffic", Vasile Dîncu also said.
Also, the defence minister reiterated the fact that the process of rendering operational the NATO Battle Group from Romania is advancing fast and this will lead to the consolidation of the Alliance flank, together with the battle groups established in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary.
In this context, the defence minister appreciated the role of the military navies in the complicated geopolitical context and said that he was convinced that "the participation in NATO's and EU's naval missions and operations had contributed to the reaching of the required interoperability which is so necessary at this moment".
At the end of his allocution, Vasile Dîncu mentioned that the war between Russia and Ukraine emphasizes a new series of challenges posed to global security, with implications on short, medium and long-term. He also said that "we must remain united, cooperate tightly as we have done since the beginning of this inhuman war, to continue training together, conduct missions in the areas of responsibility and, most importantly, evolve together".
Minister of National Defence also met with the Chiefs of European Navies on May 11, during the first day of the event conducted at the MoND Headquarters.
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The reunion of the Chiefs of European Navies is an informal, independent forum whose membership includes the Chief of Navy of each European maritime nation that is either a member of NATO or the EU and has naval armed forces. The CHENS' goal is to continuously promote cooperation among the member states' military navies, evaluate the common interest issues and increase awareness of the member states in the maritime field.
The first edition of this reunion took place in June 1990, following the initiative of the Royal British Navy. The reunion was attended by several chiefs of navies from Northern Europe, while the Chief of the US Naval Forces Europe was an invitee. Shortly, in November, there was an informal reunion of several chiefs of navies from Sothern Europe, following the initiative of the Italian Chief of Military Navy. In 1994, at Portsmouth, Great Britain, there was a first joint meeting of the leaders of the two groups of naval military leaders from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Back then, the leaders decided to merge these groups at the annual reunion of the participants and use the CHENS acronym (Chiefs of European Navies).
After NATO's and EU's successive enlargement, starting 31 January 2019, the CHENS forum has been made up of the chiefs of navies from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Great Britain, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
CHENS's leadership is ensured by a steering committee made up of three chiefs of navies, and alternates on annual rotational basis, between the Northern and Southern European countries. For the first time, the Romanian Naval Forces held the presidency of this forum that they had taken over from Malta in May 2021, and handed over to Ireland, at the end of the Bucharest Reunion.
The Annual CHENS Reunions are organized based on an agenda established by the naval forces of the state that holds the presidency of the forum at that time, in accordance with the other two states which make up the steering committee. The topic proposed by the Romanian Naval Forces is "Command and Control Challenges of a Maritime Enterprise".
As part of the annual CHENS Reunion, European Seminar for Young Officers/ESYO is organized to debate on common interest subjects that are included in the main topic of the CHENS Reunion.
Our country has been holding the presidency of this European forum since last year and the Chief of the Naval Forces Staff, Rear Admiral Mihai Panait, will hand over the command to his Irish counterpart, Commodore Michael Malone.
Defence Minister Vasile Dîncu, who attended the official opening festivity of the activity, saluted the presence in Romania of the 25 chiefs of naval forces of the EU and NATO states as well as of the representatives of the NATO Allied Maritime Command and the US Sixth Fleet, who hold the observer status.
In his allocution, the defence minister referred to the Ukraine war and the tensed situation from the Black Sea by specifying that "we all live extremely hard times here, in the Black Sea Region, because of the Russian Federation's military aggression against a sovereign and independent state, such as Ukraine".
"Your presence at Bucharest is even more relevant because of the context the battles are fought in the Black Sea, the Russian forces being so close to the Danube mouths, on The Snake Island. Romania has been monitoring this situation and the potential development of the conflict towards Odessa very carefully, being also preoccupied with the fact that the Black Sea isn't practically open to the international traffic", Vasile Dîncu also said.
Also, the defence minister reiterated the fact that the process of rendering operational the NATO Battle Group from Romania is advancing fast and this will lead to the consolidation of the Alliance flank, together with the battle groups established in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary.
In this context, the defence minister appreciated the role of the military navies in the complicated geopolitical context and said that he was convinced that "the participation in NATO's and EU's naval missions and operations had contributed to the reaching of the required interoperability which is so necessary at this moment".
At the end of his allocution, Vasile Dîncu mentioned that the war between Russia and Ukraine emphasizes a new series of challenges posed to global security, with implications on short, medium and long-term. He also said that "we must remain united, cooperate tightly as we have done since the beginning of this inhuman war, to continue training together, conduct missions in the areas of responsibility and, most importantly, evolve together".
Minister of National Defence also met with the Chiefs of European Navies on May 11, during the first day of the event conducted at the MoND Headquarters.
***
The reunion of the Chiefs of European Navies is an informal, independent forum whose membership includes the Chief of Navy of each European maritime nation that is either a member of NATO or the EU and has naval armed forces. The CHENS' goal is to continuously promote cooperation among the member states' military navies, evaluate the common interest issues and increase awareness of the member states in the maritime field.
The first edition of this reunion took place in June 1990, following the initiative of the Royal British Navy. The reunion was attended by several chiefs of navies from Northern Europe, while the Chief of the US Naval Forces Europe was an invitee. Shortly, in November, there was an informal reunion of several chiefs of navies from Sothern Europe, following the initiative of the Italian Chief of Military Navy. In 1994, at Portsmouth, Great Britain, there was a first joint meeting of the leaders of the two groups of naval military leaders from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Back then, the leaders decided to merge these groups at the annual reunion of the participants and use the CHENS acronym (Chiefs of European Navies).
After NATO's and EU's successive enlargement, starting 31 January 2019, the CHENS forum has been made up of the chiefs of navies from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Great Britain, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
CHENS's leadership is ensured by a steering committee made up of three chiefs of navies, and alternates on annual rotational basis, between the Northern and Southern European countries. For the first time, the Romanian Naval Forces held the presidency of this forum that they had taken over from Malta in May 2021, and handed over to Ireland, at the end of the Bucharest Reunion.
The Annual CHENS Reunions are organized based on an agenda established by the naval forces of the state that holds the presidency of the forum at that time, in accordance with the other two states which make up the steering committee. The topic proposed by the Romanian Naval Forces is "Command and Control Challenges of a Maritime Enterprise".
As part of the annual CHENS Reunion, European Seminar for Young Officers/ESYO is organized to debate on common interest subjects that are included in the main topic of the CHENS Reunion.