The Minister of the French Armed Forces, Sebastien Lecornu, will be on an official visit to Romania on Thursday, informs the Ministry of National Defense (MApN), according to Agerpres.

He will have a meeting with the Minister of Defense, Angel Tilvar, at the MApN headquarters, at the end of which joint press statements are scheduled.

The agenda of the French delegation also includes, during the morning, a visit to the „Getica” National Training Center in Cincu, Brasov County, a wreath-laying ceremony at the French Heroes Monument in Cismigiu Park in Bucharest.

Later, Minister Lecornu will be received by President Klaus Iohannis, at the Cotroceni Palace, and by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, at the Victoria Palace.

France leads the NATO battle group in Romania established since May. The formation of battle groups from Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary is part of the wider set of measures adopted by NATO to strengthen the deterrence and defense posture in the medium and long term, as a result of the war started by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

At France’s proposal to take over the role of framework nation, the French battalion deployed in Romania, considered the spearhead of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), is currently forming the Collective Defense Battle Group (CDBG) on the territory nationally, integrating, in rotation, troops from Belgium and the Netherlands. The main forces of the CDBG are deployed in the National Combined Training Center in Cincu, where they carry out training missions and activities alongside structures of the Romanian Army.

Agerpres