The facility in Deveselu is part of a US
\nanti-missile defense system deployed in several allied states. The system
\nincludes a ground radar in Turkey, four US Navy battleships fitted with
\nanti-missile systems in Spain, and a military command hub at the Rammstein air
\nbase in Germany, as well as a second ground interceptor facility to be built in
\nPoland, which will achieve operational status in 2018. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Political leaders in
\nBucharest, including President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos,
\nForeign Minister Lazar Comanescu and Defence Minister Mihnea Motoc, have
\nhighlighted the purely defensive purpose of the anti-ballistic shield.
\nPreviously, the US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control, Frank Rose, had
\nstated that the shield in Deveselu was primarily seeking to protect Europe
\nagainst ballistic short and medium-ranged missiles that could be launched from
\nthe Middle East. Attending the opening ceremony, the NATO Secretary General
\nJens Stoltenberg said: This site in Romania – as
\nwell as the one in Poland- are not directed against Russia. The interceptors
\nare too few, and located too far south or too close to Russia, to be able to
\nintercept Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are designed instead
\nto tackle the potential threat posed by short and medium- range attacks from
\noutside the Euro-Atlantic area. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The event has nevertheless fueled Western
\nfears regarding Russia’s potential retaliation. With the illegal annexation of Crimea and with the Federation’s constant support for break-away rebels in
\nEastern Ukraine, many expect Russia to respond to this Aegis Ashore facility
\nwith hostility. The Secretary General Stoltenberg also said that NATO saw no
\ncontradiction between a strong defense, a firm and predictable NATO commitment
\nand the attempt to have a dialogue with Russia, between transparency and
\nactions aimed at curbing threats, given that Russia’s increased military
\npresence alongside NATO’s borders has given rise to more risks and threats. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Russia has criticized the installment of the anti-ballistic shield in Europe,
\nclaiming it’s a threat to its security interests. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitri
\nPeskov has stated that Moscow will
\nrespond by strengthening its own military capabilities. Military
\nanalysts say, however, that the relations between Russia and NATO are not
\nlikely to deteriorate, as Russia’s response to NATO’s European shield has only
\nbeen of a verbal nature so far. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The activation of the US missile defense shield in Deveselu, southern Romania, has been hailed by Romanian, US and NATO officials and criticized by Moscow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":68528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29484,33275,38484],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-68527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-deveselu","tag-nato-secretary-general-jens-stoltenberg","tag-us-missile-defense-shield"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n