U.S. Antimissile Shield In Romania To Be Exclusively Defensive – State Secretary

This year's session of the NATO PA is hosted by the Romanian Parliament.

Our agreement with the USA on the missile defense shield to be located in Deveselu, Romania, states that, in using the system the two parts must observe the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, said Aurescu.

French MP Jean Michel Boucheron raised a question on the defensive efficiency of the antimissile shield, arguing that it will intercept only a quarter of standard missiles. He said that the sums allotted to set up the shield could have been directed to other military devices with a higher offensive capacity.

Aurescu highlighted the Romanian antimissile shield is exclusively defensive and is part of the new NATO plan concerning joint defense.

In response to a question addressed by a Russian official whether Romania received the approval of all NATO member states to sign the antimissile shield agreement with the U.S., Aurescu said the decision regarding the development of the system was transparent and Romanian authorities informed Russia about it.

The Romanian state secretary stressed that the U.S. troops deployed at Deveselu will not pose a geopolitical threat in the Black Sea region.

"Immediately after we decided to accept the United States' request to participate in the antimissile shield project, we informed all our neighbors, including Ukraine," Aurescu told Ukraine's representative in the NATO PA.

U.S. Defense Department deputy assistant secretary Bradley Roberts pointed out that the antimissile shields in Poland and Romania will not ensure defense against any potential nuclear attacks launched by Iran.

Romania's highest defense body approved this spring the setting up of U.S. antimissile shield elements at a former airbase at Deveselu, in the southern Romanian Olt county.

Negotiations between Romania and the U.S. on developing the antimissile shield lasted one year and an agreement was signed on September 13 in Washington by Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Baconschi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The agreement will take effect after it is ratified by the Romanian Parliament.

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