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Secretary of state for Euro-Atlantic bilateral and strategic affairs with Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) George Ciamba on Tuesday welcomed visiting Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Manfred Nielson, according to MAE.
Ciamba hailed the important progress made with adapting NATO's command structure and the increased role of the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) following the process. He highlighted the role of this command in raising the Alliance's strategic anticipation and developing modern forces and capabilities to ensure an effective response to all current threats and a proper alignment of NATO to rapid developments in new technologies.
Ciamba presented Romania's assessments of the regional security situation and stressed the importance Romania attaches to the full implementation of decisions on strengthening the NATO enhanced forward presence on its eastern flank as part of adapting the alliance to a new strategic context. He also referenced the importance of deepening NATO relations with partner countries and welcomed the active role of ACT in their education and training relations with such countries, with beneficial effects both in terms of strengthening national defence capabilities and increasing interoperability with NATO.
The EU-NATO relationship was another important item on the agenda, with both officials stressing the importance of further developing co-operation between the two organisations, especially with regard to defence planning, increasing the resilience of the member states and partner countries. Ciamba said that the deepening the NATO-EU strategic partnership will be a priority for Romania when holding the presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019.
Nielson thanked Romania for its global contributions to NATO efforts, as well as for support provided to ACT carrying out its duties, including through the provision of qualified human resources.
