26 Oct 2022 19:12

Bilateral meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Ciucă

This afternoon, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo received Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă in his official residence Lambermont.

Among other topics, the two prime ministers discussed the current security situation and military cooperation in a NATO context. As one of the countries on NATO's eastern border and neighbour of Ukraine, the security impact of the war in Romania is very tangible. A Belgian battalion is currently active in Romania where it is helping to develop military infrastructure.

Prime Minister De Croo and Prime Minister Ciucă also discussed the topic of energy and the possibility of closer co-operation on renewable energy.

In the presence of the two Prime Ministers, the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN also signed two Memoranda of Understanding with two Romanian research institutes, the Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering and the Institute of Nuclear Research - Regia Autonomă Tehnologii pentru Energia Nucleară.

In addition, the collaboration in the field of semiconductors was discussed which involves IMEC, the world-renowned Leuven research center for nanoelectronics and digital technology.