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Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca and Chief of the Defence Staff Daniel Petrescu participated on Tuesday in the graduation ceremony of the General Ioan Emanoil Florescu class of 2020 of the Carol I National Defence University (UNAp).
Minister Ciuca voiced confidence that among the class of 2020 graduates there could be the future defence minister or military leaders of the next generation.
"I have come here today to meet the military leaders of the next generation, those who will have as their main responsibility the destinies of the branches of the armed forces and of the defence staff and, why not, I have come to meet the next defence minister! As the incumbent defence minister, I am asking you, dear General Ioan Emanoil Florescu class of the 2020 graduates to put the nation, the homeland and the army first. I am also asking you to be responsible and to become those leaders whom you wanted to have! Take the model you have built and put it into practice," Ciuca is quoted as saying in a press statement.
At the end of his speech, he congratulated both the graduating officers and the National Defence University faculty, thanking them for their efforts, emphasising that, "always, the champion should climb the podium with his or her coach, since performance is almost impossible to achieve without guidance and thorough training."
"These desiderata make the military institution the most respected institution in Romania, with its role in society being an undisputed one," said Ciuca.
In his turn, Chief of the Defence Staff Petrescu congratulated the graduates and told them not to forget that they are trained by an institution of fundamental military training of the Romanian state and that they have the patriotic and moral duty to serve the Romanian state.
"Our supreme mission is to defend the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Romania. When you return to the operative structures of the Romanian armed forces, you prove that you have fully managed what you have prepared for: you have become a military leader, a full leader. It is essential that through behaviour you generate emulation within the organisation, that you are role models to your comrades. Always seek to be where the institution needs you!," said Petrescu.
According to the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) statement "this year marks 131 years since this citadel of higher military education paved the way for training and knowledge."
"In 1889, by high decree of King Carol I, there was established, under the command of General Stefan Falcoianu, the Higher War School, being the sixth defence staff school in Europe, there with those in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Turin and Brussels. The Carol I National Defence University has prepared 123 classes since its inception. The highest military institution of higher education in Romania has become, over time, an institutional and professional model of European origin, permanently acting for the modernisation of the education and training programmes of the Romanian officers, offering a quality education, compatible with the training systems of the personnel in the armed forces of other NATO and EU member states," according to MApN.
