Senator Tîlvăr was recently appointed Minister of Defense after serving as the Chair of the Committee on European Affairs of the Romanian Senate.
“I expressed our appreciation for the United States’ commitment to the security of Romania and the NATO’s Eastern Flank. Romania remains a reliable strategic partner of the US,” said Tîlvăr on Twitter following a recent introductory call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. Tîlvăr plans to visit the US in the coming months. NATO Parliamentary Members and Senator Radu Oprea and Senator Robert Cazanciuc are set to visit Washington in early December, and their trip will set the scene for Tîlvăr’s visit by bringing Romanian perspectives to Capitol Hill.
Until December 2000, Tîlvăr served as Chair of the Committee on European Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies. Prior to assuming office as Minister of Defense, Mr. Tîlvăr was nominated as Head of the Romanian Parliament Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
As a Romanian leader in the European Parliament, Tîlvăr prioritized and advocated to strengthen Romanian Parliamentary diplomacy to achieve key objectives advancing NATO and European priorities. He has long been a key point of connection between the Romanian government and Europe, as well as the Romanian diaspora including an appointment in 2014 to serve as Minister-Delegate for Relations with Romanians Abroad. Since 2014 Mr. Tîlvăr has been the Coordinator of the Parliamentary Group on Fighting against Human Trafficking, a key priority that requires multilateral cooperation.
Since his appointment as Defense Minister, Tîlvăr has traveled to Brussels to participate in the EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting, where he and his counterparts discussed the EU defense capability development process and ways to increase joint efforts between members states to fortify regional defense investments. The Defense Minister emphasized the importance of stimulating investment during a joint meeting of EU Defense and Finance Ministers where the group discussed concrete measures for coordination and improvement.
The Romanian Defense Minister also met with U.S. Embassy chargé d’affaires David Muniz, where the two discussed ongoing security challenges in the Black Sea region, as well as Minister of the French Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu following the arrival of French convoys and combat vehicles in Romania to support the frontline. As security challenges in Europe mount, it is increasingly important to elevate multilateral defense cooperation to protect freedom-loving societies and uphold democratic practices. In this vein, PSD Senators Ștefan-Radu Oprea and Robert Cazanciuc, leader of the Senate Defense Committee and the Senate Vice President respectively, will be traveling to Washington, DC from December 5-8 to discuss Black Sea security and the situation in Ukraine with key U.S. decision makers.
