IRIA News

US and NATO launch missile defense system in Romania to protect Europe from missile threats despite Moscow’s protest

DEVESELU, (Romania) – The United States has activated a land-based missile defense station in Romania – a step it sees as vital to defend itself and Europe. But Russia sees it as a security threat – a claim denied by NATO.

Senior U.S. and NATO officials attended the launching ceremony of US missile defense system, at an old Romanian air base in Deveselu in Romania, to launch the new ground-based missile defense system in Romania Thursday.

The US says the $800 million Aegis system, proposed by Washington almost a decade ago, is a shield to protect European countries from short and medium-range missiles, particularly from the Middle East.

Russian officials have slammed the move as an “attempt to destroy the strategic balance” in Europe.

Speaking in Bucharest, Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose told a news conference that turning on the defense shield did not represent a security threat to Moscow, despite the Kremlin’s concerns.

“Both the US and NATO have made it clear the system is not designed for or capable of undermining Russia’s strategic deterrence capability,” Rose told reporters. “Russia has repeatedly raised concerns that the US and NATO defense are directed against Russia and represents a threat to its strategic nuclear deterrent. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other senior officials from the military alliance attended the opening ceremony in Deveselu.

“The United States’ Aegis ashore system is declared certified for operations,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced at the ceremony launching the system.

At a press conference, NATO Secretary General thanked Romania for hosting important NATO assets, including the Multinational Division South-East Headquarters and a NATO Force Integration Unit in Bucharest. Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that Romania also makes an important contribution to NATO’s Ballistic Missile Defense system, hosting an Aegis Ashore site in Deveselu. “This helps protect European Allies against missile threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area,” he said.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said his country wanted NATO to have a “permanent naval presence” in the Black Sea that respected international conventions.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis

Russia terms new US missile shield in Romania a ‘Direct Threat’

Russia has described a new $800 million U.S. missile defense site in Romania as a “direct threat” and warned it would bolster its equivalent systems earlier than planned. The Russians object to the alliance beefing up its military presence on its eastern flank.

“The creation of a European and global missile defense shield has an adverse effect on strategic stability,” Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the Russian foreign ministry’s department for proliferation and arms control issues, said.

“This move is harmful and wrong, since it may impair strategic stability,” Mikhail Ulyanov, who heads the ministry’s nonproliferation and arms-control department, was quoted by Interfax as saying on May 11.

Komoyedov, a former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, told Interfax news agency that: “This is a direct threat to us .. This is not about Iran, but about Russia with its nuclear capabilities.”

Russia strongly objects to the U.S. base in Romania – a country that used to be a close ally of the Soviet Union.

U.S. Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System in Romania

U.S. Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System Romania

Aegis Ashore is the land-based component of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System. Aegis Ashore adapts the present and future Aegis BMD capabilities to address the evolving ballistic missile security environment.

Aegis BMD and Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) upgrades are being phased into deployed Aegis BMD ships and land-based facilities. Each Aegis BMD upgrade provides increased capability for countering ballistic missile threats. The land-based system is designed to be removable to support worldwide deployment. In addition to Aegis BMD at sea, Aegis Ashore is part of Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) Phases II and III.

The United States will also launch a similar project in Poland on May 13 that is due to be completed in 2018.