US Congress Delegation at Ministry of Defense

CHISINAU, October 17, 2017 — State Secretary of Ministry of Defense, Aurel Fondos, met today with a delegation of the US Congress, led by the representative of the US House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, Steve Russell. The meeting was also attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA in our country, James Pettit.

The main issues discussed were the bilateral military relations between the Republic of Moldova and the United States of America and the opportunities for their development.

Aurel Fondos informed the American delegation about the political situation and the regional security, as well as about the implementation stage of the Defence Capacity Building Initiative — DCBI in the Republic of Moldova.

The State Secretary thanked the US Government for the assistance offered in the training, logistics, and technical sectors through various programs such as IMET, GPOI, and other important projects for the benefit of the population of the Republic of Moldova.

Aurel Fondos also mentioned the contribution of North Carolina National Guard to the professional training of Moldovan service members, thus allowing the participation of the National Army in international exercises and peacekeeping missions abroad.

Steve Russell appreciated the interest of National Army leadership in implementing the projects and programs aimed at improving the bilateral defense partnership.

The American official expressed his conviction that the dialogue between the two armies will continue by intensifying the training opportunities for National Army service members in high education institutions in the USA and the Moldovan-American experience exchange within various joint activities.

The Moldovan-American defense cooperation is based on the Memorandum “Regarding the cooperation in the military area between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova and the US Department of Defense”, signed on December 4, 1995.