DefMin Tilvar, on working visit at NATO HUMINT Centre of Excellence in Oradea

DefMin Tilvar, on working visit at NATO HUMINT Centre of Excellence in Oradea.

National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar paid a visit on Thursday to the NATO HUMINT (Human Intelligence) Centre of Excellence nucleus in Oradea, the National Defence Ministry’s (MApN) Press Office informed.

According to the press release sent to AGERPRES, the command team of the institution presented to the National Defence minister the missions assumed in the HUMINT expertise field within NATO, as a single point of reference, both in terms of training and development of standardized policies and procedures at NATO level in the HUMINT field, and in supporting allied countries in planning and developing HUMINT capabilities, in line with developments in the security environment, told Agerpres.

„In the almost 13 years since its establishment, the Center has strengthened its position and reputation among similar institutions in NATO, becoming the Alliance’s main agent of transformation in its specific area of expertise, HUMINT, through policy development, promotion and implementation, concepts and new strategies in order to improve operational capabilities and, ultimately, to achieve interoperability goals,” NATO HUMINT Centre of Excellence Director, Colonel Florin-Vasile Tomiuc stated, as quoted in the mentioned press release.

Minister Angel Tîlvar informed himself about the projects which are currently being carried out by the Center of Excellence in Oradea, as well as the development prospects, assuring the command team of the institution of the MApN’s full support.

„Our country’s hosting of this center was boosted by the excellent results obtained by the Romanian servicemen in relevant intelligence missions conducted to the highest standards in the most difficult theatres of operations and which have been and are appreciated at the same high level by our allies and partners. We are aware of the projects you are running, we are directly interested to have success in what you have proposed from now on and you can count on the full support of the team I lead at the top of the ministry,” minister Angel Tîlvar said, according to the quoted source.

In the context of the war started by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the National Defence minister underscored the important role of military intelligence in creating a comprehensive picture of the security environment and in the most effective planning of actions to strengthen the defence and deterrence posture of any aggression on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance.

„Romania is not only the framework nation of the NATO HUMINT Center of Excellence, but also one of the main beneficiaries of your activities. By establishing the NATO HUMINT Center of Excellence in Oradea, our country took on an important mission in an essential area for the development of the Alliance, especially in the context of complex security challenges that are emerging in the Black Sea region in the years to come. The war that is taking place beyond our borders shows how important intelligence gathering, analysis and processing capabilities in the security environment area, so that we can take the best decisions at national and allied level to enhance defence and deterrence capabilities, based on a deep understanding of the security situation and context,” minister Angel Tilvar stated.

Centers of Excellence are international military institutions, hosted by one of the NATO member states (framework nation), supported by other nations, called sponsor-nations. As a result of the experience gained in numerous missions in theatres of operations, Romania has assumed the status of framework nation for a centre of excellence focused on human intelligence (HUMINT).

The NATO HUMINT Center of Excellence in Oradea was accredited and activated as an international military organization by the North Atlantic Council on 29 July 2010, succeeding in becoming, with the support of the sponsor-nations (the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the US, Turkey and Hungary), the main vector of the important initiatives carried out within NATO in this specialized area.