Opening remarks

Mr. President, it’s a great pleasure to welcome you to NATO Headquarters today.

We have had an excellent discussion.

Your visit, so soon after taking office, shows your personal commitment to our Alliance.

All the Allies appreciate the remarkable contribution made by your troops to our combat mission in Afghanistan over many years.

As well as your substantial contribution to our new mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces.

When I met Romanian soldiers in Kandahar, I was impressed by their professionalism and dedication.

Romania also contributes in other key areas, such as building security and stability in Kosovo, and NATO’s missile defence system.

Romania is also deeply committed to keeping our neighbourhood stable - assisting Ukraine through the trust fund on cyber security, and supporting the Republic of Moldova.

So Romania is a strong Ally.

And NATO is determined to do what it takes to defend all Allies.

As we face challenges to our security both to the east and the south.

At the Wales summit we agreed to enhance our collective defence through the Readiness Action Plan.

Today, we discussed how we can make sure that we implement the plan in full and on time.

The very high readiness force and the command and control presence in the Eastern part of our Alliance, including Romania, are key.

And it’s also important that all Allies commit the necessary resources.   

I commend you on the political commitment reached by Romania to reach our agreed benchmark of investing 2% of Gross Domestic product output in defence by 2017.

As a former Prime Minister, I know how tough spending decisions are.

Keeping that level for the following ten years is an important commitment, which sets a powerful example.  

So Mr. President, I count on Romania’s continued commitment to strong defence.

And  I look forward to working closely with you.