Deveselu

Secretary of State with the Ministry of National Defence (MApN) Mircea Dusa on Wednesday had a meeting at the MApN headquarters with a delegation of the Japanese Diet, in which context he underscored the strictly defensive nature of the Component of the ballistic missile defence system in Deveselu.

A Japanese delegation with members of Japan's National Diet visited on Tuesday the 99 Deveselu Military Base which hosts the Aegis Ashore anti-missile defence system, the Naval Support Facility (NSF) Deveselu posting on Facebook images of various moments of the visit.

Romania is suing a local shepherd who interferes with the work of US military deployed at a military base near the southern city of Deveselu, wrote the electronic edition of Balkan Insight.

Romania's Supreme Court in January is due to deal with an unusual case involving a sheepfold built in 2007 next to the military base in Deveselu, southern Romania, which hosts a US Army anti-missile shield.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Romania's Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, and US Deputy Defence Secretary Bob Work took part in the ceremony that marked the activation the anti-missile system at the US Navy base at Deveselu.

The US Navy will formally inaugurate its new missile defence base in southern Romania on Friday once construction of the base is complete.

There are still some tests to be run before the system is fully operational, most likely by April next year, according to Romanian officials.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Wednesday that the anti-missile system which is to be installed at the Deveselu military base in southern Romania does not violate the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, as Russia has claimed.

Ponta argued that there was no violation of the treaty "because the anti-missile system is a defence system".

Some 1,500 soldiers and over 100 military vehicles from Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Poland, Turkey, Romania and the US are taking part in the first of two joint military exercises in Romania.

The collaboration between Romanian and American armed forces in military exercises is an example for both countries, Charge d'affaires ad interim Dean Thompson of the US Embassy in Romania asserted on Tuesday, at the firing range of the Romanian Marines Battalion of Babadag. He was there on the Distinguished Visitors Day of the Platinum Eagle 15 multinational training module.

Some 1,500 troops and 12 ships from Romania, an American destroyer and a sea dredger from Bulgaria are taking part in a major naval exercise organised by the Romanian Navy.

The drills aim to strenghten the level of inter-operability between NATO forces as well as inter-agency cooperation in Romania, in an environment facing multiple threats, a Romanian naval statement said.