NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Paolo Alli (photo L) on Friday said that Romania is one of the most important partners of the North Atlantic Alliance and is “actively involved in the common security.”
“I believe Romania, today, is one of the most important partners of NATO and of the Euro-Atlantic security. Not only you have established to invest 2 percent of the GDP in defence, but you also contribute to the military missions of Afghanistan with troops and to the KFOR mission of Kosovo. Moreover, you have organised the ballistic missile defence systems. Romania is actively involved in the common security,” Alli said in the opening conference of the NATO PA, which is taking place over four days in Bucharest.
He maintained that on the Alliance’s eastern flank there are “increasing tensions with Russia and the security in the Black Sea is crucial not only for Romania, Bulgaria and other countries neighbouring the Black Sea, but also for Europe and for the North Atlantic Alliance.”
“Russia’s aggressive conduct, unfortunately, lately. They are still very aggressive in Crimea, in Ukraine, in Moldova, in Georgia. It is important for this reason for NATO PA to show how devoted we are to the military support and effort, but not only military, but also political, to deal with these challenges. That is why we had our spring session in Tbilisi in Georgia and we had initiatives in Ukraine, the North Atlantic Council had an official meeting in Ukraine and today we are here, in Bucharest, for this important session,” the NATO PA President added.
Alli maintained that among the topics to be approached within the NATO PA in Bucharest there is also the cooperation between NATO and the EU in respect to the common defence system.
“It is a very long discussion in the EU about how to build a common defence system, which wouldn’t be an alternative to NATO, but would go in parallel. This is a political matter which we’ll discuss in our Assembly and I believe we can definitely focus on the south. You know that NATO has decided to create a new military centre in Naples, in the south. It is an important political decision for NATO to ensure an organisation centre in the south, to understand what are the threats coming from the east, but also coming from the south – the refugee crisis, terrorism, migration,” Alli explained.
He added that “increasing the efforts in Afghanistan” will also be discussed, as well as the relations between NATO and Russia, mentioning, at the same time, as “a personal concern,” the situation in the Western Balkans.
“I believe the situation here must be stabilised as soon as possible and that we, as NATO and EU, must make the greatest efforts together to improve and speed up the Euro-Atlantic integration of the most problematical areas in the Western Balkans, because in Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, too, there are very different situations and, unfortunately, they are very hard to counteract,” the NATO PA President concluded.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly will bring together more than 50 national delegations, Friday to Monday, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg scheduled to attend the plenary session Monday with President Klaus Iohannis, Chairman of the Romanian Senate Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and Speaker Liviu Dragnea.
Speaker Dragnea: Romania’s NATO PA objective – strengthening its position in world’s political, economic, strategic organisations
Romania’s Parliament will host the 63rd annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where the Romanian delegation has a clear objective: to strengthen Romania’s position in the world’s political, economic and strategic organisations, and to promote the country’s major political objectives in line with the defence of its national interests, according to Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Liviu Dragnea.
“Starting today, the Parliament of Romania will host the 63rd annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, an important forum for international parliamentary dialogue, where the Romanian delegation has a clear objective: to strengthen Romania’s position in the world’s political, economic and strategic organisations, to promote the country’s major political objectives in line with the defence of its national interests. Moreover, Romania has allocated 2 percent of its GDP [Gross Domestic Product] for defence spending this year, and at the same time Romania has a strategic position in the Black Sea area, it is intensifying its efforts and measures in support of defence and security, alongside its allies and partners, by honouring its international commitments. At European level, in 2019, Romania will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will give the Black Sea region greater visibility on the European agenda,” Dragnea said in a Facebook post.
ForMin Melescanu: Romania to continue to be responsible, active NATO ally
Romania will continue to be a responsible and active ally of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu said on Friday at the meeting with NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Paolo Alli, who is in Bucharest in the context of the 63rd Annual Session of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) for AGERPRES, the discussions between the two “focused on topical issues on NATO’s current agenda regarding the phase and prospects of implementing NATO decisions to strengthen the defense and deterrence posture and to ensure an increased role of the Alliance in stability projection.”
The two high officials exchanged assessments on the main security developments in the eastern and southern neighborhood, underlining the importance of maintaining the Alliance’s capacity to deal with all threats to the member states, regardless of their area of origin. The importance of NATO-EU co-operation has been highlighted in as many areas of common interest as possible for the two organizations, which is all the more necessary in the context of strengthening the EU’s role in the field of security and defense.
The head of the Romanian diplomacy voiced appreciation for the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO and emphasized the unique and extremely important role that this format plays in connecting allied objectives and policies to the needs and expectations of citizens in the member states. Teodor Melescanu stressed that “Romania will continue to be a responsible and active ally in promoting a strengthened NATO profile and will remain a trustworthy dialogue partner for its allies,” the quoted source informs.
The President of the NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly appreciated Romania’s important contributions to the Alliance, materialized, among other things, in its significant participation in allied missions, hosting the Aegis Ashore rocket defence system and in meeting the Alliance’s objective to allocate 2pct of GDP to defense.
Moreover, given the double quality of the foreign dignitary, as president of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, as well as a deputy in the Italian Parliament, also highlighted during the meeting was the very good Romania-Italy political dialogue, in the context of a bilateral relationship of Consolidated Strategic Partnership. Also underscored were the important role of the Romanian community in Italy in the bilateral relationship and the common concern for its good integration into the Italian society, the MAE also informs.