On September 13, Bucharest and Washington marked 10 years since the conclusion of the Strategic Partnership for the XXI century and the signing of the Agreement on the setting up of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System in Romania. On this occasion, the Romanian Foreign Ministry and the United States Department of State issued a joint statement according to which Romania and the US will continue to be outposts of Euro-Atlantic values and meet the challenges of the future together, as friends and allies. The Romanian Foreign Ministry recalls that, since its launch in 1997, the Strategic Partnership has been an essential landmark of the Romanian foreign policy and one of its basic pillars, along with Romania’s membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union.
At the same time, the partnership is an effective tool to support domestic efforts in such areas as strengthening security, increasing prosperity, supporting the political, economic, military and administrative reform. Cooperation between Romania and the US has been constantly strengthened and diversified, so that in 2011 it was decided to develop the Partnership by establishing the main dimensions of the bilateral relationship, which include political dialogue, security, economy, people-to-people contacts, science and technology, research, education and culture.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry recalls that negotiations related to an agreement on the deployment of the United States ballistic missile defense system in Romania began in 2010. In this context, a political text of the Joint Declaration was negotiated, Romania’s chief negotiator at the time being the current Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu. In December 2015, the technical capacity of the Anti-Missile Defense Facility in Deveselu (southern Romania) was confirmed, and the inauguration ceremony was held in May 2016.
The Romanian Foreign Ministry states that the Agreement proves the United States commitment to European security and represents Romania’s and the US’s joint contribution to collective defense within NATO. NATOs missile defense system is exclusively defensive and targets threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic space. In a message sent on the celebration of 10 years since the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership, the charge daffaires of the US Embassy in Bucharest, David Muniz, highlighted the fact that Romania remained an essential link within NATOs missile defense chain. Romania has fought side by side with America and other Allied forces in some of the toughest and deadliest theaters of operations in the world, and the Romanian military has bravely honored this commitment and paid an incredibly expensive price, David Muniz also said. (LS)
