With the
\naggressiveness common to Moscow’s foreign policy rhetoric, the Russian
\nPresident Vladimir Putin explicitly warned Romania and Poland that they could find
\nthemselves in the sight of Russian rockets, because they are hosting elements
\nof a US missile defence system. If
\nyesterday in those areas of Romania people simply didn’t know what it means to
\nbe in the cross hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain
\nmeasures to ensure our security, Putin said, quoted by Reuters. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Perhaps not a coincidence,
\nthe statement was made during a visit to Athens, the capital of a NATO and EU
\nstate, and less than three weeks after the US launched its anti-missile
\nplatform in Deveselu, southern Romania. The facility includes a
\nstate-of-the-art radar, ballistic interceptors and modern communication
\nequipment. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The warning
\nagainst Poland, whose relations with Russia have traditionally been cold, was
\nrather pre-emptive, because the elements of the missile defence system on its
\nterritory will only be operational as of 2018.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As expected, the
\nRussian leader’s words did not go unnoticed in Bucharest. According to the
\nRomanian Foreign Ministry, Putin’s position indicates that he ignores the
\nactual situation that Romania and its NATO allies have repeatedly explained with
\nrespect to the purely defensive nature of the anti-missile system. The Foreign
\nMinistry also notes that the bilateral agreement between Romania and the US in
\nthe missile defence field strictly regulates the defensive nature of the
\nDeveselu base and its compliance with the UN Charter. Furthermore, placing this
\ntopic in the regional security context is surprising, given that the causes of
\nthe worrying regional security developments of the past years are well known.
\nThe latter statement hints at Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and
\nthe way in which Moscow fuels the secessionist conflict in south-east Ukraine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to
\nforeign policy analysts, although references to the anti-missile system have
\nbeen a recurring line in the Russian rhetoric of late, they have never been so
\nexplicit. This might be proof that Moscow tries to make up in attitude for what
\nit lacks in arguments, because Russia has never managed to prove that the
\nmissile defence system is truly a threat to its security.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Because it hosts elements of the American missile shield in Europe, Romania may be in Russias cross-hairs, says President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":68744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[38047],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-68743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-missile-defence-system"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n