The system installed at Deveselu is part of the U.S. anti-missile shield and will be an integrated part of NATO’s anti-ballistic defense system.
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Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work helped to inaugurate the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense site here today, citing threats from Iran as a reason why North Atlantic Treaty Organisation needs the protection.
Andrey Kelin, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official, said the shield is part of an effort to contain Russia.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said “measures are being taken to maintain Russia’s security at the necessary, level”, the Tass news agency reported.
And Russia’s ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grushko, said he was not “convinced by NATO declarations that the American anti-missile system is not aimed at Russia”.
The Aegis Ashore site will further boost NATO’s ability to counter the threat from ballistic missiles, Stoltenberg said.
Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos considered the Deveselu facility “an essential component” of the strategic partnership with the United States, and stressed that his country demonstrates once more that it is a predictable actor and a trusted ally that seriously carries through its commitment.
Work reiterated that the system was defensive and meant to protect the alliance from any ballistic missile threat.
Before the ceremony, Frank Rose, deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state for arms control, warned that Iran’s ballistic missiles can hit parts of Europe, including Romania. The NATO command-and-control center is in Germany, and four U.S. Aegis ballistic missile defense ships are homeported in Rota, Spain. The ballistic missile interceptor has been planned by then U.S President George Bush in 2007. Also, they did not agree to establish in a legally binding manner that the created missile defense system is not directed against Russian Federation.
The NATO article also argues that Moscow has various types of warheads, missiles and bombers that could technically mitigate such security concerns.
An incoming missile would be destroyed in space before it could re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. “It was always about ballistic missiles coming out of the Middle Eastern region”.
“This is not about Russia”, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said at a ceremony in Romania.
“When Russia is entering a full-fledged economic crisis that could affect the political allegiances of the Russian population, the Kremlin needs to revive the issue of BMD – a welcome enemy that contributes to the justification for government survival”, according to the article.
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Sinnott, for his part, says Russian Federation has been aware of the capabilities of the missile deployed, which are for tracking and intercepting missiles; therefore, he says, they are not offensive weapons.
