Romania and Portugal help each other manage security challenges, Romania’s Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said on Wednesday at a meeting at the headquarters of the Defence Ministry (MApN) with his Portuguese counterpart Nuno Melo.

During the talks, the ministers reviewed the latest developments in the Romanian-Portuguese cooperation in terms of security and defence from a bilateral perspective and from that of NATO and EU membership, and also the security situation in the Black Sea region and the measures to strengthen the NATO posture of defence and deterrence of aggressions on the eastern flank.

Tilvar thanked Portugal for its contribution to joint exercises and activities, its commitment to the NATO enhanced Vigilance Activities (eVA) initiative, through the deployment of a company-level detachment for the Multinational Brigade South-East, based in Craiova, as well as for its presence in other NATO bodies in Romania.

„Although geographically positioned in different regions of the European continent, we must respond jointly to the challenges and threats that profoundly affect the world today. We understand the specific problems of the south, and Portugal understands that what happens in the Black Sea does not remain in the Black Sea. That is the spirit of NATO, and Romania and Portugal support each other in managing the security challenges they face in their respective regions,” he said.

Regarding the geopolitical and global security situation, the two dignitaries placed special emphasis on the implications of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the need to continue supporting Ukraine as well as Moldova.

Part of the Romanian-Portuguese political and defence dialogue, Tilvar on Tuesday welcomed head of the Portuguese Navy Henrique Eduardo Passalaqua de Gouveia e Melo.

AGERPRES