A US missile defense site in Romania aimed at protecting Europe from ballistic missile threats became operational yesterday, angering Russia, which opposes having the advanced military system in its former area of influence.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tried to reassure Russia as he spoke at a ceremony attended by US, NATO and Romanian officials at the Soviet-built base, 180km southwest of Bucharest.
The NATO missile defense site “in no way undermines or weakens Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent. This site in Romania, as well as the one in Poland, are not directed against Russia,” Stoltenberg said at the opening ceremony. “The interceptors are too few, and located too far south or too close to Russia, to be able to intercept Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.”
Photo: EPA
Stoltenberg said the interceptors were designed “instead to tackle the potential threat posed by short and medium-range attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic area.”
US officials say the Romanian missile shield, which cost US$800 million, is intended to fend off missile threats from Iran and is not aimed at Russia.
Stoltenberg added that Moscow had unilaterally terminated cooperative dialogue about missile defense in 2013.
However, the alliance would continue to try and engage Russia in dialogue where possible, he said.
“In times of tension, keeping channels of communication open is even more important,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow was already taking measures for “securing the necessary level of security in Russia.”
Russian Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, chairman of the State Duma’s defense committee, called the missile defense site a threat to Russia.
“This is a direct threat to us,” Komoyedov, the former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, told the Interfax news agency. “They are moving to the firing line. This is not just 100; it’s 200, 300, 1,000 percent aimed against us.”
“This is not about Iran, but about Russia with its nuclear capabilities,” he said.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Bucharest wanted NATO to have a “permanent naval presence” in the Black Sea that respected international conventions, and called for increased security for NATO members in the south and east, which border Russia and the Middle East.
“It is important that a credible and predictable presence can be assured of the allied forces on the eastern flank, to balance the northern dimension with the southern and eastern flank,” Iohannis said after meeting Stoltenberg yesterday.
Polish and US officials are to break ground today at a planned missile defense site in the Polish village of Redzikowo, near the Baltic Sea.
KINGPIN: Marset allegedly laundered the proceeds of his drug enterprise by purchasing and sponsoring professional soccer teams and even put himself in the starting lineups Notorious Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to US authorities after his arrest on Friday in Bolivia. Marset, a Uruguayan national who was on the US most-wanted list, was passed to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, then put on a US airplane, Bolivian state television showed. “The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the US justice system,” Bolivian Minister of Government Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters. The alleged kingpin was arrested in an upscale neighborhood of Santa
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
SCANDAL: Other images discovered earlier show Andrew bent over a female and lying across the laps of a number of women, while Mandelson is pictured in his underpants A photograph of former British prince Andrew and veteran politician Peter Mandelson sitting in bathrobes alongside late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed on Friday in previously published documents. The image is believed to be the first known photograph of the two men with Epstein. They are currently engulfed in scandal in the UK over their ties to their mutual friend. The undated photograph, first reported by ITV News, shows King Charles III’s disgraced brother and former British ambassador to the US sitting barefoot outside on a wooden deck. They appear to have mugs with a US flag on them
NASA on Thursday said that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1. “We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a news conference, after technical difficulties delayed a launch originally expected last month. “It’s a test flight, and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready,” she said. “Just keep in mind we still have work” to do. The US space
RSS