European Commissioner for Internal Market, interim DefMin discuss health crisis

Interim Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca, had an official meeting on Thursday with Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, visiting Romania, the two officials addressing topical issued on the EU agenda, such as the state of cooperation at European level for overcoming the health crisis, military mobility and cyber security.

According to a press release of the Ministry of National Defence sent to AGERPRES, European Commissioner Thierry Breton voiced his concern about the situation generated by COVID-19 in Romania and specified that the European executive provided the member states with all the necessary tools to stop the spread of the virus, such as vaccines, the green certificate, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

In this context, the Romanian Minister of Defence underscored the important role of the European institutions in combating the health crisis, thanking the European Commissioner for the support provided by the European Commission in combating the pandemic and pointed out the role of the Ministry of National Defence in supporting civil authorities.

Nicolae Ciuca highlighted the role of the European Commission in carrying out some projects with a major impact on the defence field, such as military mobility, and stated that "the implementation of major infrastructure projects in Romania, with the support of the European Commission, will contribute to improving military mobility with a major impact at the Black Sea, a relevant area for European security, including in the context of recent developments in the Union's Eastern vicinity."

Discussions on cyber security highlighted the synergistic role of the member states and the Commission in implementing the EU Cyber Security Strategy and the positive impact of civil-military cooperation, including in the context of the making operational the European Cyber Security Center in Bucharest. The discussions highlighted the relevance of the field within the wider efforts to define the level of ambition of the EU in the field of security and defence, by adopting a new programmatic document (Strategic Compass), states the Ministry of National Defence.

The European Commissioner emphasized the EC's emphasis on cybersecurity and outer space, areas where the Strategic Compass needs to provide concrete benchmarks, such as creating an integrated cyber incident response capability (Joint Cyber Unit), using, in an integrated manner, the instruments available at European level and in the member states, are also shown in the quoted press release.