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US reaffirmed that development works at Deveselu Military Base will continue
The U.S. have reaffirmed, on Sunday, its commitment towards the anti-missile shield and assured that plans for development works at Deveselu Military Base will continue according to the set timetable, the U.S. Embassy to Bucharest said in a statement, at the request of AGERPRES.
This statement comes amid media reports, according to which some secret studies conducted by the U.S. Defense Department cast doubt on whether the missile defense system planned for Europe will ever be able to protect the U.S. from Iranian missiles as intended.
Referring to an alleged U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report: We understand that GAO information on the anti-missile shield is preliminary and classified. A final report, unclassified, was not made public. We can not confirm or comment on the alleged report. In a broader context: the U.S. are committed to protect its territory and citizens, our deployed forces, our allies and our partners against the threat of a ballistic missile attack. This includes Romania, our ally and partner in NATO and the community of transatlantic nations, with which we cooperate shoulder to shoulder in Afghanistan. The U.S. remain committed towards the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) that already provides initial protection to our NATO allies and to the American forces deployed in Europe, the U.S. Embassy to Bucharest further said.
According to the diplomatic mission, the U.S. Congress has steadily provided funds for the site of Deveselu, Romania, and for the interceptors that are to deployed in this place.
We expect this to continue. Plans and timetable for building of the site in Romania and deployment on it will continue as planned. The official launch of utilities building at Deveselu is scheduled later this year, the quoted source said.
The U.S. Embassy stressed that the planned missile defense at Deveselu is aimed to protect the European allies, the American troops stationed on the European continent and American radars in the region, necessary to all U.S. missile defense plans.
Romanian site usefulness and importance for the missile defense plans in Europe - and for the United States themselves - is clear, the diplomatic mission concluded.
The secret studies the U.S. Embassy referred to were summed up in a briefing for lawmakers by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the nonpartisan Congressional wing that handles investigations and audits, which is drafting a report. This Information, that was not classified, has been obtained by the Associated Press.
President Traian Basescu said, on Wednesday, in a press conference, that the project at Deveselu is going forward, with a single risk related to this shield, namely if it is found that Romania can be an 'unpredictable' state.