Joint press point

Thank you very much Mr. President. Thank you for the constructive meeting this morning.

It is always a great pleasure to meet you, Mr President. And I am particularly happy to visit Romania as you celebrate 10 years membership in our Alliance.

Romania is a strong, reliable, and committed Ally.

You play an exceptional role in Afghanistan. You are very active in our multinational programmes to improve our military capabilities - including missile defence. And you have shown that it is possible to reverse the trend of declining defence budgets, and make substantial investments in substantial capabilities.

NATO’s core task is to defend and protect our Allies. And our commitment is rock solid.

We discussed the grave crisis unfolding on our borders. And let me be clear: Romania does not stand alone. You are part of NATO. And every Ally has NATO’s full protection.

That is why we have strengthened our presence in the air, at sea and on the ground from the Black Sea to the Baltic, including here in Romania And we will do what is necessary for as long as required.

Because Russia’s aggression undermines the very principles on which we have built our peace and prosperity : the free right of nations to determine their own future, and the rejection of so-called spheres of influence.

Now more than ever, it is clear that defence matters. And that the strong bond between Europe and North America remains the strong foundation for our security.

Mr President, I know I can count on your support and I thank you for your strong personal commitment to our Alliance.

QUESTION: What do you think about the recent declaration of the Russian leaders about Romania and the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, of course? Mr. Lavrov just said that any attempt to grant NATO membership to Ukraine would hurt European security. And also Mr. Lavrov said Russia will guarantee the territorial integrity of Republic of Moldova only if Transnistria would have a special status.

What is your opinion, please?

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN (NATO Secretary General): On the latter, I think after what we have seen in Ukraine, no-one can trust Russian so-called guarantees of other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Back in 1994, Russia guaranteed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and what we have seen recently is an illegal annexation, a grab of land by force and illegal annexation of Crimea.

So I don't think we can trust such so-called guarantees.

And when it comes to the future status of Ukraine, it’s for Ukraine to decide. We have subscribed to a fundamental principle that each and every nation has the right to choose its security policies itself, including their Alliance affiliations. So it’s for Ukraine to decide. Not Russia, not us, but for Ukraine, and we will fully respect their choice.

QUESTION: And what about Transnistria?

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN: Yes, but the same goes for Moldova. We request full respect for Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And of course, we urge Russia to live up to her international obligations and not try to destabilize the situation, neither in Moldova nor in Ukraine.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

QUESTION: (Speaks in Romanian).

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN: Well, I think it’s a bit dramatic to speak about a third world war, but I can assure you that NATO stands prepared to defend and protect our Allies effectively. This is the reason why we have taken immediate steps to reinforce collective defence through enhanced air policing; in the Baltic States, deployment of AWACs aircrafts over Poland and Romania. You have seen more naval presence in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. You have seen more exercises on the ground.

So across the board, we have taken steps to reinforce collective defence and we will not hesitate to take further steps if needed to provide effective defence and protection of our Allies. We stand prepared.

PRESIDENT BASESCU:  (Speaks in Romanian.)

QUESTION: (Speaks in Romanian.)

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN: Yes, indeed we discussed Ukraine at length, but I didn't meet the Ukrainian ambassador. But I can tell you that we have regular meetings with Ukraine at NATO Headquarters.

As you may know, we have a special NATO-Ukraine Commission and we have met on several occasions to discuss how we can further enhance a partnership between NATO and Ukraine and we have also taken decisions to strengthen our relationship, including our assistance to Ukraine when it comes to defence reforms and modernization of their armed forces and their participation in NATO exercises.

QUESTION: (Speaks in Romanian).

PRESIDENT BASESCU: (Speaks in Romanian).