Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs Iulian Fota on Thursday had a meeting with Dereck Hogan, the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, in the context of their participation in the the second Summit of the International Initiative on Combating the Ransomware Phenomenon, organized in Washington, according to Agerpres.

According to the MAE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the two officials exchanged views on the development of the security situation in the Black Sea region and its prospects.

Secretary of State Iulian Fota pointed out the role and efforts of Romania at the regional level, especially in support of Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, including from the perspective of supporting their European path. He highlighted the recent tripartite meeting Romania – Republic of Moldova – Ukraine at the level of foreign ministers, with the participation of the energy ministers from the three countries, as well as the importance of continuing cooperation in this format.

He also underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy as a relevant direction for deepening the Strategic Partnership, namely the Cernavoda project and the implementation in Romania of the Small Modular Reactors technology. He also highlighted the potential positive impact at the regional level of the Romanian-American collaboration for the development of small modular reactors.

At the same time, Fota also mentioned the need to increase regional connectivity, the geo-economic importance of the Black Sea region, as well as the potential offered by the connection with Central Asia. Also, they reviewed the global consequences of the war in Ukraine, as well as the possibilities of cooperation in support of the states of the Global South affected by them.

On the sidelines of his visit to Washington D.C., Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs Iulian Fota had a comprehensive exchange of assessments on regional security developments with representatives of the analysis environment within the Atlantic Council, Centre for European Policy Analysis, Centre for New American Security, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Heritage Foundation, Hudson Institute, Jamestown Foundation, National Defence University.

Agerpres