Prime Minister of the Portuguese Republic, Antonio Costa, starts today a working visit to Romania

Prime Minister of the Portuguese Republic Antonio Costa, on a working visit to Romania on Thursday, will be received by President Klaus Iohannis and will have meetings with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu.According to the programme announced by the authorities, the Portuguese prime minister will be greeted, on Thursday morning, at Victoria Palace of Government, by his Romanian counterpart, with a joint press conference of the two high officials on the agenda of the meeting.At the same time, the two prime ministers will participate in the signing of the agreement between Romania and the Portuguese Republic on cooperation in defence.   The Government established in Wednesday's meeting, under a memorandum, the approval of the negotiation and signing of the Agreement between Romania and the Portuguese Republic on cooperation in the defence area."The main cooperation fields in the defence area, according to the new Agreement, will be: defence management and planning; participating in bilateral and multinational military exercises; cyber defence and counteracting hybrid war; training and education of civil and military staff; crisis management, peace-keeping and humanitarian missions; logistics; information exchange in the defence area; defence industries and technologies and military equipment; research and development; military geography, geodesy, topography, geo-spatial information and meteorology; military legislation; arm control and disarmament; environmental matters; gender themes and the role of women in the Armed Forces; military medicine; military history and publications; cultural, sports and social activities. The draft agreement does not include provisions contrary to the Romanian legislation and it does not go against the obligations and commitments assumed under other international documents," the memorandum reads. "Taking into account that the Agreement between Romania's National Defence Ministry and Portugal's National Defence Ministry on cooperation in the military area, currently in force, was signed in Bucharest, on July 10, 1995, previously to Romania's accession to NATO and the EU, in a different security context, a new agreement of cooperation in the area has been negotiated," the release mentions.The new cooperation agreement will contribute to the bilateral cooperation enlargement and strengthening in common interest area, as well as to enhancing collaboration inside NATO and EU."Thus, the main cooperation fields in the defence area, according to the new agreement, will be: defence management and planning; participating in bilateral and multinational military exercises; cyber defence and counteracting hybrid war; training and education of civil and military staff; crisis management, peace-keeping and humanitarian missions; logistics; information exchange in the defence area; defence industries and technologies and military equipment; research and development; military geography, geodesy, topography, geo-spatial information and meteorology; military legislation; arm control and disarmament; environmental matters; gender themes and the role of women in the Armed Forces; military medicine; military history and publications; cultural, sports and social activities," reads the release.Afterwards, Prime Minister Antonio Costa will be received at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace by President Klaus Iohannis, where they will hold one-on-one and official talks.On the same day, the Portuguese Prime Minister will have a meeting at the Palace of the Parliament with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu, the Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Senate, Angel Tilvar and the Social Democratic Party MEP Victor Negrescu.On Thursday afternoon, the head of the Lisbon Executive will pay a visit to the 1st Training Battalion "Olt", Caracal, Olt County, together with President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.