NATO missile defence system

NATO allies plan to send patrol aircraft and missiles to strengthen Ankara's air defenses on its border with Syria, officials said Dec. 1, while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was working on new support measures for Turkey. 

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".

The U.S. has started to pull its Patriot missiles stationed in Turkey, despite a recent appeal from Ankara to its NATO allies to keep the air and missile defense units at a delicate time on the border with Syria. 

Patriot missiles deployed in Turkey since 2013 to guard against rockets from Syria will be removed for planned upgrades in October, despite the ongoing crisis across the border, the Pentagon said on Oct.1.

The U.S. will send an additional anti-missile Aegis-equipped ship to the Mediterranean this fall to defend Turkey and other NATO allies against ballistic missile threats, U.S. Navy spokeswoman Cmdr. Pamela Rawe told Anadolu Agency on Aug. 19. 

"The U.S. is committed to the defense of our NATO allies, which includes Turkey," Rawe said.

Germany will end its contribution to NATO's Patriot anti-missile systems in southern Turkey by the beginning of 2016 Germany will end its contribution to NATO's Patriot anti-missile systems in southern Turkey by the beginning of 2016, the Federal Ministry of Defense said on Aug. 15.

Some 1,500 troops and 12 ships from Romania, an American destroyer and a sea dredger from Bulgaria are taking part in a major naval exercise organised by the Romanian Navy.

The drills aim to strenghten the level of inter-operability between NATO forces as well as inter-agency cooperation in Romania, in an environment facing multiple threats, a Romanian naval statement said.

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdn Aurescu on Wednesday welcomed Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) General Phillip M. Breedlove, on which occasion he underscored the strictly defensive nature of the Deveselu missile defence shield as well as the unacceptable character of threats against Romania's allies over this issue, Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) reports in a press release.

US Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Frank A. Rose on Monday said in Bucharest, that the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Romania, Oleg Malginov is ?wrong' when saying that the anti-missile system implemented by the United States of America is a threat and a challenge to Moscow, as this has no capacity to harm Russia's strategic deterrent potential.

"The anti-missile system is only for self-defence, as defined by the UN charter, and has nothing to do with Russia," Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Saturday.

Aurescu was commenting after Russia's ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, warned the Scandinavian country not to join the NATO missile defence system.