Romania Praised for Decision to Host Missile Shield

7 Oct 2011 DefenseNews AFP

BUCHAREST - The president of NATO's parliamentary assembly Karl Lamers on Oct. 7 praised Romania's contribution to the alliance's security by agreeing to host U.S. missile interceptors.

"I welcome the agreement on locating elements of a NATO missile defense shield in Romania," Lamers told a press conference in Bucharest at the 57th annual session of the military grouping's assembly.

"This is a vital contribution to security, not only for your country, but for the whole alliance," he added, stressing that NATO's missile defense plans did not pose a threat to Russia.

The agreement, signed last month in Washington, allows the establishment and operation of a U.S. land-based ballistic missile defense (BMD) system in Romania as part of NATO's efforts to build a continental missile shield.

The deployment is expected to take place in 2015 at a former airbase in southern Romania.

The Assembly's meeting brings together some 300 members of national parliaments from the 28 NATO nations and partner countries to discuss transition in Afghanistan, NATO's ongoing air campaign in Libya, support for new Arab democracies, relations with Russia, and the situation in the western Balkans.

NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is to attend the gathering on Oct. 10.