ForMin Hurezeanu met U.S. counterpart Rubio in Brussels

Romania's Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu, met on Friday, on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the NATO member states in Brussels, Belgium, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio."A good exchange of views between Minister Hurezeanu and Secretary of State Rubio. Ready to work together to advance our Strategic Partnership to the benefit of our nations," Hurezeanu said in a social media post.Hurezeanu also met his Norwegian counterpart Espen Barth Eide."Romania and Norway have a solid cooperation in the field of defence. Our countries are determined to ensure security from the Arctic to the Black Sea," Hurezeanu added in his post.At the NATO defence ministerial meeting the Romanian foreign minister said that Europe must intensify security and defence."Transatlantic industrial cooperation, open to non-EU allies, is not optional, but essential for the deterrence and defence of NATO. A stronger Europe means a stronger NATO," he said.   *** The US Embassy in Bucharest sent a message on Thursday in which it assessed that the allocation of 2% of GDP for defense is no longer sufficient, and NATO allies “will have to spend a much higher percentage of GDP to meet the needs of a safe and secure future.” “Peace is not free,” embassy officials said.   “Only when all allies make adequate investments in their own security can we truly guarantee peace for the entire NATO Alliance. Peace is not free,” the US Embassy in Bucharest said in a Facebook post on Thursday.   In a video accompanying the message, the embassy said that Article 3 of the NATO Treaty states that “each ally has agreed to spend on its own defense and for collective defense to ensure that the Alliance has the strength necessary to resist an armed attack.”   The embassy specifies what these expenses can be allocated for and explains that, although all states were required to allocate 2% of GDP to defense until last year, only two-thirds of the allies did so. In the current context, embassy officials believe that 2% is no longer enough. “NATO allies will need to spend a much higher percentage of GDP to meet the needs of a safe and secure future.”   US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday offered assurances to European NATO member states, but confirmed that Donald Trump’s United States is now expecting them to pay their dues. He stressed that this requirement concerns the 32 NATO member states – including the United States -, in the context in which Washington currently allocates 3.4% of GDP to military spending.   (Photo:www.mae.ro)