Romanian Naval Forces take presidency of European Military Commanders Forum (CHENS)
The Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces, Rear Admiral Mihai Panait, participated, on 5-6 May, in the Forum of Chiefs of European Naval Forces (CHENS, CHiefs of European NavieS), which includes heads of naval forces from 24 European maritime states, whether they are members of NATO or the European Union (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey).
CHENS is an informal, independent and apolitical forum, with the main objectives of developing cooperation in the naval field, analyzing European maritime issues, as well as promoting naval views in decision-making forums. This year’s meeting was hosted by Malta and took place online in the context of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
In his speech, Rear Admiral Panait brought to the attention of the participants the recent maritime challenges facing Europe, which increase the complexity of the missions that European naval forces have to fulfill, such as illegal migration at sea and the effects of globalization on maritime activities. “The development of naval doctrines, the adaptation of training and the integration of new technologies in the act of command and control at sea can be solutions that lead to the successful fulfillment of missions. The use of drones and sensors on board naval platforms, independent of human resources, contributes to an overview of the maritime situation, as well as to the optimal planning of missions to deter illegal acts and aggressions in the maritime space “, said the chief General Staff of the Romanian Naval Forces.
At the end of his speech, Rear Admiral Mihai Panait invited all the heads of the European naval forces to participate in the next meeting of CHENS, which the Romanian Naval Forces will host, for the first time, between 11-12 May 2022, in Bucharest. The topic proposed for the CHENS 2022 forum will be focused on the optimization of the command and control act in the maritime field and will include three discussion sessions.
Information and Public Relations Office Naval Forces
