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European expert: Plans to place U.S missile interceptors in Romania are not directed against Russia

Politics Materials 8 February 2010 13:05 (UTC +04:00)
Plans to deploy ballistic missile interceptors in Romania are not directed against Russia, expert in European Security, Beata Kviatek - Simanska, said.
European expert: Plans to place U.S missile interceptors in Romania are not directed against Russia

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 8 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /

Plans to deploy ballistic missile interceptors in Romania are not directed against Russia, expert in European Security, Beata Kviatek - Simanska, said.

"Besides Russia, there are other threats. This system will be directed against them," expert in European Security, Beata Kviatek - Simanska told Trend via e-mail.

Plans to place interceptor missiles in Romania, which represent an element of U.S. global missile defense system in Europe, are a real threat to the security of Russia, a member of the public council under Russia's Defense Ministry, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Col. Igor Korotchenko told RIA Novosti on Friday.

On Thursday President of Romania Traian Basescu agreed to place the interceptor missiles envisaged by a new U.S. missile defense system in Romania. Washington confirmed plans to deploy missile interceptors in the territory of Romania, by clarifying that they are directed against the possible threat from Iran .

She said that placement of ballistic missile interceptors in Romania must not provoke any misunderstandings between Russia and the United States.

"Moreover, earlier Russia itself proposed to place interceptors in Romania and Bulgaria as an alternative to Poland and the Czech Republic", the expert said.

In Romania, similarly as in Poland, the plans are to place the medium-range ballistic missile interceptors, she said.

Though there was no talk about Romania's participation in the missile defence shield, except the earlier made Russia's suggestions, this is not surprising, she said.

The revised missile-defence system requires different type of interceptors, which need to be placed closer to the possible threat, Beata Kviatek - Simanska said.

On September 18, 2009 the United States announced about correction of their plans to build missile defense in Europe after getting new intelligence data. According to them, there is a large threat from Iranian small and medium-range missiles now, but not ballistic ones, as it was previously expected. In this regard, the United States will build ground-based elements of missile defense system only in 2015. But until then they send radar-equipped ships with interceptor missiles to the Northern and Southern Europe.

The United States until recent time planned to deploy the radar in the Czech Republic and ten interceptor missiles in Poland under the pretext of protection from Iran's missile threats by 2010. Russia fears that these systems will threaten its security. In early November 2009 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that as a response to U.S. deployment of missile defense system in Europe, Russia will deploy missiles Iskander in Kaliningrad, as well as apply radio electronic countermeasures defense elements. However, after Barack Obama took office in the United States, people often talk about the suspension or cancellation of deploying a third GMD interceptor site in Europe.

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