Reactions to the missile defence system

Because it hosts elements of the American missile shield in Europe, Romania may be in Russias cross-hairs, says President Vladimir Putin.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 30.05.2016, 13:08

With the
aggressiveness common to Moscow’s foreign policy rhetoric, the Russian
President Vladimir Putin explicitly warned Romania and Poland that they could find
themselves in the sight of Russian rockets, because they are hosting elements
of a US missile defence system. If
yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply didn’t know what it means to
be in the cross hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain
measures to ensure our security, Putin said, quoted by Reuters.

Perhaps not a coincidence,
the statement was made during a visit to Athens, the capital of a NATO and EU
state, and less than three weeks after the US launched its anti-missile
platform in Deveselu, southern Romania. The facility includes a
state-of-the-art radar, ballistic interceptors and modern communication
equipment.

The warning
against Poland, whose relations with Russia have traditionally been cold, was
rather pre-emptive, because the elements of the missile defence system on its
territory will only be operational as of 2018.

As expected, the
Russian leader’s words did not go unnoticed in Bucharest. According to the
Romanian Foreign Ministry, Putin’s position indicates that he ignores the
actual situation that Romania and its NATO allies have repeatedly explained with
respect to the purely defensive nature of the anti-missile system. The Foreign
Ministry also notes that the bilateral agreement between Romania and the US in
the missile defence field strictly regulates the defensive nature of the
Deveselu base and its compliance with the UN Charter. Furthermore, placing this
topic in the regional security context is surprising, given that the causes of
the worrying regional security developments of the past years are well known.
The latter statement hints at Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and
the way in which Moscow fuels the secessionist conflict in south-east Ukraine.

According to
foreign policy analysts, although references to the anti-missile system have
been a recurring line in the Russian rhetoric of late, they have never been so
explicit. This might be proof that Moscow tries to make up in attitude for what
it lacks in arguments, because Russia has never managed to prove that the
missile defence system is truly a threat to its security.