Belgian Defense minister pays visit to Getica National Joint Training Center in Cincu

The Belgian Defence minister, Ludivine Dedonder, and the Chief of the Defense Staff of the Belgian Kingdom, admiral Michel Hofman, met, on Monday, at the Getica Combined National Training Center in Cincu, with the secretary of state in the Ministry of Defense for Defense policy, planning and international relations, Simona Cojocaru, and the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Gheorghita Vlad."The meeting took place on the occasion of the visit that the allied officials made to the Belgian troops of the NATO Battle Group deployed in the Romanian training facility," a press release from the Ministry of National Defense sent on Monday, reads.The dialogue focused on topics such as the analysis of the security situation in the Black Sea region, the stage of the operationalization of the Combat Group for the growth at the brigade level, respectively the planning of exercises, operations and investments."I thanked the Belgian minister of Defense for the excellent cooperation and the particularly valuable contribution in the development of the Battle Group Five. All the nations involved in the operationalization of this important NATO project demonstrated professionalism and showed what allied solidarity means on the ground," the secretary of state Simona Cojocaru said."Romania is actively engaged in the development of the Battle Group, which includes infrastructure improvements. We recognize the progress made so far and will continue to provide all the necessary support as the host nation," Cojocaru said."In terms of joint training, the presence of Belgian troops in our country has created real opportunities to increase the interoperability of structures in the NATO context. In the format of the European Union, the convergence of the strategic security interests of the two countries is also reflected in the participation of the Romanian and Belgian military in the operations of the European Union in the Western Balkans, as well as in Africa. A symbolic indicator of military cooperation is the recent participation of the Belgian partners in the December 1st parade," general Gheorghita Vlad said.The NATO battle group in Romania was established in May 2022, at the proposal of France, which took over the role of the framework nation for the forward detachment of the NATO Very High Reaction Force (VJTF). The presence of the Battle Group in our country contributes substantially to strengthening the security of the Euro-Atlantic space on the eastern flank.