ICI Bucharest received the visit of a European Defence Agency (EDA) delegation on Thursday, February 8, 2024. Adrian-Victor Vevera, the general director of the institute, welcomed the delegation made up of the two members of the Directorate for Research, Technology and Innovation - Dr. Constantinos Hadjisavvas, project manager, and Dr. Giorgos Dimitriou, program coordinator.
The visit aimed to discuss organizational elements of the workshop planned for the Black Sea region within the SYMBIOSIS project, an EDA project exploring the links between offshore renewable projects and the defence field. The organizing partners of this regional workshop are ICI Bucharest and the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center of the MFA. The workshop will explore maritime and energy security issues in the context of plans to develop offshore renewable energy infrastructure in the Black Sea, which will have the first offshore wind farm projects by 2027-2028. Romania also has the first law in the Black Sea region regulating investments in offshore renewable energy.
Among the topics discussed were the agenda of EDA activities in which ICI Bucharest can be involved in 2024, including the event to disseminate the results of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector on April 25 in Brussels, and ways to increase bilateral cooperation, including the possibility of ICI Bucharest's participation at the EDA's formal working groups on information technology (Capability Technology Area on Cyber Research and Technology).
Moreover, on February 7, 2024, the EDA delegation, together with representatives of ICI Bucharest and the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Center, visited Constanța for discussions with the Maritime University of Constanţa, the „Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy and the Coast Guard to ensure their participation in the workshop, as well as to promote Romanian capabilities.
ICI Bucharest has been active since 2017 in EDA projects by participating in theConsultation Forum. Since 2019, a representative of ICI Bucharest has been moderating the Working Group 3 on the Protection of Defence-Related Critical Energy Infrastructures.
