US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will visit Romania as part of a 12-day trip around the Globe from Alaska to the Straits of Malacca to the Black Sea and then to Normandy, France, where he will participate in the 70th anniversary commemorations of D-Day with President Barack Obama.

In Romania, Hagel will visit sailors aboard a U.S. Navy ship that will be in port. He will also consult bilaterally with Romania's minister of defence on ways to strengthen NATO's deterrents, according to the Pentagon’s press secretary, Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby.

USS Taylor, a guided missile cruiser, entered the Black Sea last week, replacing USS Vella Guld, a frigate that was stationed in the Black Sea until May 12. The USS Donald Cook destroyer was also in the Black Sea two months ago, as tensions between Ukraine and Russia on the Northern Black Sea coast intensified.

The Pentagon chief is the third US high official to come to Romania this month after CIA deputy director Avril D. Haines and US Vice-President Joe Biden. Their visits aim to support the idea that Romania is one of NATO’s most important allies in the region.

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editor@romania-insider.com