Romania Supports NATO Antimissile System, Not Bilateral Defense Agreements – President

„Romania has a bilateral agreement with the U.S.A. regarding antimissile defense, which meets the country’s security needs. But our objective is that the antiballistic shield be a NATO reality and not a bilateral reality of the Romanian-American relation or the Romanian-Dutch or American-Dutch relations. This bilateral ground does not seem to me to be the right solution and does not seem to comply with the fifth article of the Washington Treaty,” Basescu said during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The NATO secretary general said Romania understood the threat posed by the missile proliferation and supported NATO’s responsibility to fight this threat.

Rasmussen said NATO should develop its capacity to defend the territories and population of the allied states against any missle attacks, adding the Summit to take place in Lisbon is an opportunity to make decisions in this respect.

Rasmussen also said discussions with the Romanian president focused on the relations with Russia. He said Basescu pleads for strengthening relations between NATO and Russia, adding he also supports this standpoint.