Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă met with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

PRESS RELEASE

Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă welcomed today, at Victoria Palace, the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who is paying a visit to Bucharest, on the occasion of the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting of NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers takes place in the context in which Romania's role as NATO ally on the eastern flank is consecrated as well as the capacity to implement the Alliance's policies, mainly the changes decided at Madrid Summit, adopted after the Russian military aggression in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă appreciated the timely measures taken by the North Atlantic Alliance for the collective defense of the Eastern Flank, including the strengthening of Allied defense and deterrence in Romania, the prepositioning of capabilities on the ground, the joint exercises, and the strengthening of the Allied presence. In this regard, the Prime Minister mentioned the deployment of the American 101st Airborne Division - famous for the landing in Normandy, that returns for the first time in an operational posture, the support extended by France as a framework nation, as well as by Belgium and the Netherlands for the Battle Group that if necessary, can be enhanced to brigade size.
The NATO Secretary General thanked Romania for hosting the NATO Ministers meeting and for contributing to the Alliance's policies and missions, but also for increasing the Defense budget, starting from 2023, to 2.5% of GDP. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized the fact that NATO has boosted its rapid reaction force to 300,000 troops with high degree of training that can be deployed at different times, the doubling of the number of battle groups to the battalion size, with the possibility of enhancing it up to the brigade size, and the doubling of the number of prepositioned equipment in the region.
Also, the two high officials highlighted the importance of support for Ukraine, especially during the winter, including through the Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, a NATO project to which Romania will supplement its contribution.