DefMin Ciuca participates in second day of NATO ministerial meeting focusing COVID-19 crisis

Minister of National Defence Nicolae Ciuca on Thursday participated in the second day of the NATO ministerial meeting, which focuses on the organisation's response to the crisis generated by the COVID-19 virus and the preparation of the allied countries for a second wave of the pandemic, reads a press release of the Ministry of National Defence (MApN).

According to this source, participating in the meeting were the High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy and the vice-president of the European Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, as well as defence ministers from Finland, Sweden and Australia, the event taking place in videoconference system.

"The debates have highlighted the important role played by NATO in supporting allies and partners in counteracting the pandemic, through specific actions such as: making available flights to transport essential equipment, operationalizing field hospitals and supporting the efforts of civilian authorities. In this context, defence ministers approved the operations plan that defines the Alliance's response to a potential new wave of COVID-19, including the creation of storage facilities for medical equipment and the operationalization of a Fund to finance allied efforts in this area. Thus, Minister Ciuca underscored that Romania is ready to make available a facility for the Alliance to store medical supplies from the NATO reserve, as a concrete contribution to the Allied Plan for the response to the current pandemic," reads the press release of the Ministry of National Defence.

The Romanian official highlighted the efforts of the Ministry of National Defence undertaken at national level, in support of limiting the spread of the virus and the protection of the population and the armed forces.

"At the same time, it was agreed to strengthen the existing measures in the field of resilience and civilian training and the use of NATO mechanisms and capabilities to manage the effects of the pandemic, with a focus on sectors such as energy, transport, critical infrastructure, telecommunications and health systems. of the inter-allied coordination in the process of eliminating the effects of the pandemic and the importance of counteracting the misinformation and propaganda campaigns launched by some actors against NATO," says the same source.