NATO and Security in South-Eastern Europe

Bucharest authorities have reacted after Vladimir Putins recent statements regarding the anti-missile defense shield in Deveselu, Romania.

Mihai Pelin, 01.06.2016, 13:54

Russia’s rhetoric against Romania has become increasingly aggressive. President Vladimir Putin has recently warned Romania and Poland that they could find themselves in the sights of Russian missiles because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile defence shield that Moscow sees as a threat to its security. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has deemed Putin’s statements as incorrect, saying they prove that Romania’s contribution to the consolidation of NATO’s security is justified.

Klaus Iohannis: “The Russian Federation’s recent statements regarding the anti-ballistic defence shield are incorrect, as the system has nothing to do with Russia. Such statements cannot intimidate us.”

Iohannis has reiterated Romania’s strategic priorities in terms of foreign policy and security, such as strengthening its Strategic Partnership with the US and also its position within NATO and the EU. In his turn, the US Ambassador to Bucharest, Hans Klemm, has warned over a possible threat that Moscow might represent. It is clear that Russia is aggressive, Hans Klemm said, giving as an example what happened in Ukraine in 2012 and 2013 and also in 2008, when it aggressively intervened in Georgia. Russian aggression, Klemm went on to say, was mainly directed against countries on its western border or NATO’s eastern flank, while Moscow’s military presence in the Black Sea and Crimea is very aggressive and very obvious. That is why Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have good reasons for concern, Ambassador Klemm concluded.

The American official has also mentioned the importance of the Constanta Port for NATO security and for the Romanian-American strategic partnership, as the Romanian Naval Forces are headquartered there, the American presence at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base is significant and there are many training grounds in Babadag and some other places in eastern Romania. Constanta is located on the Black Sea coast, Crimea is only 300 kilometres away and the number of Russian troops there is growing, Klemm has explained. So Constanta plays a very important role for NATO security and for the bilateral strategic partnership, the US Ambassador to Romania has also said.

Romania is the United States’ outpost closest to Russia, a former empire that is now trying to regain its former glory. Moscow’s propaganda continues but, according to analysts, it should not be taken seriously as Russia’s discontent with Romania is by no means recent, it started back in 2004 when Romania joined NATO.