MAE's Aurescu: Romania, firmly committed to making Deveselu base operational in 2015

State Secretary for Strategic Affairs with Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) Bogdan Aurescu on Tuesday attended an international conference on missile defence in Mainz, Germany, where he reiterated Romania's strong commitment to making the Deveslu Military base facility operational around 2015.

MAE reports in a press release that in his speech to the opening of the conference, alongside US Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose and Deputy Chief of the Dutch Army Staff Hans Wehren, Aurescu reviewed the latest developments in the implementation of a 2011 agreement between Romania and the US on deploying to Romania part of the US ballistic missile defence system.

Aurescu reiterated Romania's strong commitment to making the Deveselu Military base facility operational around 2015, an essential contribution to the NATO ballistic missile defence system.

He pointed out that making the Deveselu Base operational is going on on schedule, without delays, something that Frank Rose confirmed in his speech.

Aurescu also underscored the strictly defensive nature of the US missile defence system and the compliance of its use with the provisions of the UN Charter, which reflects Romania and US legitimate defence wish for international peace and security keeping.

The Romanian official also underscored the importance for the September 2014 NATO summit to reflect the progress with missile defence and reconfirm the NATO determination to stick to the established objectives and schedule. He also mentioned Romania's special interest in the implementation of the NATO missile defence system in accordance with the principles of solidarity, indivisibility of NATO security and the full coverage of the entire NATO territory. He also pointed to...