The head of the Ministry of National Defence took part on September 18th in Polish - Romanian intergovernmental consultations led by the Prime Ministers of both countries: Mateusz Morawiecki and Viorica Dăncila.

Minister Blaszczak talked with his Romanian counterpart Gabriel - Benjamin Leş about strengthening the military cooperation of both countries. As the head of the Ministry of National Defence pointed out, the intention of the defence ministries is to implement defence projects together and to further develop the interoperability of the Polish and Romanian forces.

- We talked about cooperation between the defence industries, about cooperation with the United States, about joint preparation of troops for the NATO high readiness initiative and about improving infrastructure for increasing the mobility of allied troops - emphasized Defence Minister Błaszczak.

Since 2017, the Romanian contingent has been part of the NATO Battalion Battle Group stationed in north-eastern Poland as part of the so-called enhanced Forward Presence on its eastern flank. In turn, Polish soldiers support the defence of NATO's southeast flank by forming the Polish Military Contingent stationed in Romanian Craiova city. PMC Romania is equipped with, among others, Rosomak armored personnel carriers.

According to the head of the Ministry of National Defence, increasing the interoperability of troops will be possible in the context of transatlantic cooperation undertaken by both Poland and Romania:

- We talked about cooperation with the United States. Both Poland and Romania bought the Patriot system, we bought Himars rockets with a range of up to 300 km, so we will use our experience in training troops to operate these systems - said the Minister.

Ministers also discussed current defence projects of Poland and Romania in the framework of the European Union, in particular about the coordination of European PESCO defence projects with the cooperation initiatives undertaken by NATO member states. The goal of Poland and Romania is the complementarity of EU and NATO projects.

As noted by Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, both countries also cooperate in the Bucharest Nine format.

- We discussed topics related to the NATO initiative of military mobility and joint preparation for this initiative. It was a continuation of the talks from April this year in Warsaw in the B9 format - explained Minister Błaszczak.

The head of the Ministry of National Defence pointed out that cooperation between Polish and Romanian defence industries was one of the topics discussed.

- The Polish defence industry has competencies, especially when it comes to artillery, expected by our Romanian partners. We are close to reaching agreement and mutual success - said the head of the Ministry of National Defence.

The head of the Ministry of National Defence also pointed to the development of road and rail infrastructure of both countries in the context of the so-called "Military mobility". It is about Via Carpathia and the connection of the Baltic Sea with the Black Sea, which is of economic and tourist but also of military importance while it enables the efficient and faster transfer of troops.

After the inter-ministerial talks, the head of the Ministry of National Defence took part in the plenary session of government delegations chaired by the Prime Ministers of Poland and Romania.