Romania is taking a concrete step forward in cooperation on joint armament production, Defense Minister Radu Miruta said on Friday, following his meeting with his Slovak counterpart Robert Kalinák.

'I met with my counterpart from the Slovak Republic, Robert Kalinák, on the occasion of Prime Minister Robert Fico's official visit to Romania, and we made one thing very clear: we are moving from discussions to action. Two teams will start working immediately. We will go to Slovakia to see exactly what they can produce. They will come to Romania to identify where we can produce together. This is a concrete step toward real cooperation, not just intentions,' Miruta wrote on Facebook.

According to him, the talks specifically approached how to accelerate cooperation in essential areas at allied and European level, capability development, reducing strategic dependencies, and strengthening Euro-Atlantic security.

'Another important point: Slovakia supports Romania's proposal at European level so that a new defense-industry financing mechanism (a possible SAFE 2) may prioritise existing platforms, such as those Romania already has. The idea is simple and correct: before building from scratch, we must know exactly what we already have, and existing platforms - the factories we already possess - must be used as efficiently as possible and truly brought back to life. The reality is that demand for defense equipment, both from EU member states and from Ukraine, has increased rapidly. We cannot respond swiftly unless we make intelligent use of what already exists in Europe,' Miruta stressed.

The minister added that Romania has 'a real advantage', as it already has infrastructure, industrial platforms, and logistical capabilities that can represent up to 35% of the assets needed for a new factory, which means saved time, lower costs, and accelerated production.

'What is missing today is a clear mapping of these capabilities at European level and real top-down coordination that links these resources together - between member states and in relation to Ukraine. This is exactly what we are proposing. We have presented this approach at European level as well, and there is openness to take it further. Europe must produce more, faster, and in a more coordinated manner. And Romania is not only part of this effort, it can be one of its pillars,' Miruta concluded. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Irinela Visan; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)