MAE firmly denying allegation of arms shipments to Islamic State extremists

Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) is firmly denying press allegation of tanks and firearms manufactured in Romania being delivered to the extremist forces of the Islamic State group, MAE says in an answer on Wednesday to an Agerpres question.

MAE says it has not received for examination and implicitly has not issued any licence for tank exports to any destination in 2012-2014 from the Department for Export Control, the national military export control authority.

'We want to point out that all the military products exported by Romania are included in quarterly and yearly reports posted on the webpage of ANCEX that are also submitted to the European Union, the UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In essence, the reports are value and quantity presentations of Romanian exports of military components, products and hardware, including firearms, tanks and other armoured vehicles,' says MAE.

The ministry says that Romania strictly follows the highest standards of control of imports and exports of military products and that the national control authority in this area approves transfer licences for military products only based on assurances from the end users and confirmed by the relevant authority of the countries of destination.

Western security services have supplied Islamic State extremists in Iraq with weapons, the RIA Novosti news service quoted a diplomatic military source as saying on Tuesday.

According to the source, armoured personnel carriers, guns, rocket launchers, and ammunition were purchased in Bulgaria, artillery systems in Croatia, tanks and firearms in Romania, and infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine. AGERPRES