DefMin Dincu tells visiting defence lawmakers they need to work together

Members of Parliament's defence committees had a working meeting on Monday at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) with ministerial officials, with Defence Minister Vasile Dincu emphasising the importance of organising such activities, both in terms of the exercise of democratic checks on the military bodies, and especially because of a constant need for support that MApN has from the legislative power to achieve its objectives and constitutional missions, Agerpres reports.

"I am glad that you have accepted the invitation we made way back last December, when I took over the ministerial office, to visit us, to get yourselves informed directly about the real state of our army, the way in which we are preparing and training our human resources, acquisition modernisation, and future projects. We need to work together and I can assure you that we will propose such meetings to you more often, including local ones, in order for you to see our defence facilities and to meet our people engaged in missions," Dincu is quoted as saying in a MApN press release.

As far as parliamentary support goes, Dincu underscored the need to adopt as soon as possible a legislative package essential for a better adjustment of the military body to the current state of affairs, standards and requirements, so that effective measures to increase national resilience and strengthen the combat capacity of defence bodies can be implemented.

"There is a need for action flexibility and adjusting the tools available to the military for an effective positioning in the face of the wide range of threats that are currently manifested in the current and future security environment. We are talking, in particular, about the law on integrated nationwide crisis management, the law on cybersecurity and defence, a series of additions to Law 446 of 2006 on the preparation of the population for defence, which must be brought up to date, plus a bill related to the activity of the National Administration of State Reserves and Special Issues," Dincu pointed out.

Chief of the Defence Daniel Petrescu, together with chiefs and officials of central bodies, briefed the visiting lawmakers on the security state of play in the region, nationwide inter-institutional measures for potential management of the effects triggered by the possible developments in the situation in Ukraine, as well as the priorities and objectives of the Romanian Army for 2022 and beyond.

The visiting defence lawmakers also inquired about other subjects of interest in the area of security and defence that are the responsibilities of MApN, and said that updating national security legislation is a priority.