The United States has signed an agreement with Romania to base antimissile interceptors in the former Warsaw Pact nation under a NATO missile-defense plan that has angered Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the agreement in Washington on September 13 along with visiting Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi.
“Once the agreement is ratified,” Clinton said, “the United States will build, maintain, and operate in Romania the land-based Aegis ballistic missile-defense system — a system we have assiduously tested and have proven effective over the last decade and which will help protect the entire continent and augment the security of the United States.”
The Romania deal is part of a larger NATO missile-defense plan for Europe that has caused friction with Moscow, which wants a bigger role.
At a NATO summit in November 2010, the allies agreed to develop a new missile-defense shield linking systems in the United States and Europe to protect member states against long-range attacks from states such as Iran.
Reuters