Story by JFC Naples J9
NAPLES, Italy — German Army Brigadier General Reinhard Kloss, Allied Joint Force Command Naples Assistant Chief of Staff – J9 Division, led a combined JFC Naples-Allied Land Command delegation to meet with Moldovan Armed Forces representatives on June 27.
The meeting was conducted within the framework of an annual military cooperation Expert Staff Meeting (ESM). It aimed to confirm the NATO military partnership programme for Moldova in 2017/2018 and to enhance NATO's understanding of the Host Nation’s military requests for support.
Discussions included a review of the cooperation program between Moldova and NATO in 2017, a presentation on potential cooperation activities and exercises available to Moldova in 2018 and JFC Naples MPB's role in facilitating this partnership. The delegations also discussed the Defense Capacity Building Initiative and the opening of a NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau.
Kloss had the opportunity to meet Mr. Gheorghe Galbura, Acting Minister of Defence, and Mr. Aurel Fondos, Moldovan State Secretary for Defence. He observed that much progress has been made by Moldova in the recent years. He underlined that the key factor for partnership success is communication, which is highly facilitated by this type of face to face meeting.
ESMs are an important annual occurrence for all Partner countries that allow J9 MPB and the partners to openly discuss progress under various initiatives and to ensure that our partners are correctly supported by NATO through JFC Naples.
"Partnership is a win-win situation for NATO, and we are looking forward to a common future,” said Kloss.