"Consultations among allies for the election of a new secretary general are actively ongoing, and naturally, this issue was also addressed in the meeting with Romanian colleagues," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Brita Kikas told ERR Thursday.

"The election of the NATO secretary general is an informal process that involves negotiations among allies and seeking consensus. We have repeatedly emphasized that it is in Estonia's interest that the next NATO secretary general should be convincing in understanding the significance of aggression against Ukraine and thus the need to support Ukraine, understanding the threat emanating from Russia, and understanding the strengthening of collective defense and thus the importance of defense spending," the ministry representative continued.

"We have also emphasized that in deciding on NATO's leading positions, the problem of underrepresentation of countries that joined after the end of the Cold War should be taken into account. Estonian and Romanian positions largely coincide. Consultations among allies will continue until a candidate who best meets all allies' conditions is found," Kikas concluded her comment.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Jonatan Vseviov and Ministry of Defense Permanent Secretary Kusti Salm hosted colleagues from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense in Tallinn in a strategic dialogue format on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The main topic of discussion was European and alliance defense and security policy, the upcoming NATO Washington summit, and Russia's war against Ukraine. During the two-day meeting, regional security briefings were also held and a visit to the Tapa military base was made, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported Wednesday.

"Russia's ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine is on the minds and tongues of Europeans from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Romania is an important partner and NATO ally for Estonia. I am pleased that we were able to discuss defense cooperation and share views before the rapidly approaching Washington summit," Salm said via a press release.

Vseviov added that NATO and European Union countries on the eastern flank share a similar geopolitical reality and perception, and cooperation and strengthening ties between such countries are vitally important to the security policy of the region.

This was the first strategic dialogue format meeting between Estonia and Romania.

The Romanian delegation was led by Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ana Tinca and Deputy Chancellor for Defense Policy of the Ministry of Defense Maj. Gen. Mihail Iancu.

NATO is expected to agree on who will succeed Jens Stoltenberg, who has been in the position of secretary general of NATO since October 2014, by the time of the summit in Washington on July 9-11 and the celebration of the alliance's 75th anniversary. Major NATO member countries, including the USA, have already expressed their support for Mark Rutte, the long-serving prime minister of the Netherlands, but some countries in the east have expressed a desire to find a politician from one of the eastern countries for this position. It is reportedly Romania that has nominated its President Klaus Iohannis, who is concluding his second term this year, for the position.

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