Cooperation between Romania and UK to continue, Mihnea Motoc says

Military and security cooperation between Romania and the UK will continue undeterred, Minister of Defense Mihnea Motoc stated in the aftermath of the June 23 referendum that saw the Brexit camp claim victory.

Present on Sunday at a ceremony celebrating the National Flag Day, Motoc told press that the Ministry of National Defense (MApN) was part of a group conducting a wide-ranging impact assessment that includes the Government.

“As far as we are concerned, what is important is the way in which we will continue bilateral collaboration with the United Kingdom and we don’t have any reason to believe that what is extremely solid and poignant in this bilateral relation – namely military and security cooperation, which are excellent, – will not continue,” the minister said.

Minister Motoc also stated that the UK’s NATO role will remain unchanged. “Within NATO the collaboration we have with the United Kingdom and the general role it is playing as part of the Alliance will not change, and in what regards an eventual EU exit and negotiations that would lead to that, of course we are looking at the implications along the lines of the security policy and common defense, as far as my direct responsibility goes,” Motoc stated.

The Government-led impact assessment endeavor also includes the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), Interior Minister Petre Toaba said. ”We, at MAI, are in the process of evaluating all these implications; lately, we have developed […] an excellent bilateral relation with law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom. Right now we have two internal affairs attaches and seven policemen conducting operative missions. We will continue to emphasize very much this bilateral relation and we will see at the end of the assessment what the conclusions will be,” Petre Toba stated.