Romania Rejects Russian Objections to NATO Missiles

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Wednesday that the anti-missile system which is to be installed at the Deveselu military base in southern Romania does not violate the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, as Russia has claimed.

Ponta argued that there was no violation of the treaty "because the anti-missile system is a defence system".

He added that Romania was "not scared" by Russia's attitude and "is still standing beside NATO".

His comments came after a Russian foreign ministry official warned Washington and Bucharest to drop the plan or face unspecified consequences.

"We are calling on the United States and Romania to understand their full responsibility for the development of these events, and abandon these plans while it's not too late," Mikhail Ulyanov, the director of the ministry's Department of Non-Proliferation, Disarmament and Arms Control was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

But the Romanian foreign ministry also insisted on Wednesday that the anti-missile system will not violate the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty.

"The treaty does not apply to the development and testing of interceptors engaging air targets, which will be located at Deveselu," the ministry said in a public statement.

Russia strongly opposes the missile defence system, which involves planned bases in the southern Romanian village of Deveselu and Poland.

The base in Deveselu will be the first to feature the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile system, a land-based version of the radar tracking system installed on US warships since 2004.

Scheduled to become operational by the end of this year, the base will be staffed by 200 to 500 US military, civilian and contract employees. The work at Deveselu involves an estimated...