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The Patriot missiles purchased by Romania do not pose a danger to the Russians in peacetime, but “will certainly be considered targets” if Russia attacks Romania, the Moscow press writes.
“Romania received the first Patriot surface-to-air missile transport. Bucharest is expected to acquire a total of seven Patriot systems, which will enhance the Aegis Ashore system deployed by the United States in Deveselu in 2015. Romania and other Southeastern European countries link the modernization process with a threat that is supposed to emerge along the eastern flank of NATO, “Izvestia was quoted as saying by Tass on Monday.
In general, Romania, like other countries in Southeastern Europe, such as Bulgaria, has actively intensified military and technical cooperation with the West. In addition to retraining its allies in eastern and southern Europe, the United States could increase the number of its military contingents based there, the source said.
Konstantin Bogdanov, principal investigator at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, considers that the implementation of the US Patriot systems in Romania and Poland is not surprising.
“Both states are backbone countries, where the deployment of NATO military contingents is planned in case of threat,” the expert told Izvestia.
In political terms, deploying defensive systems that do not undermine strategic stability does not create problems, Bogdanov said.
“The scope of these peacetime air defense systems does not create difficulties for the Russian military, including those serving near Crimea. These weapons will certainly be considered targets when Russia plans hypothetical operations in Romania,” he said. he.
It should be noted in this statement that the Russian expert speaks directly about “when” Russia will carry out operations in Romania, and not “if” they will take place.
“Such things will never be ignored”
According to Ilya Kramnik, an expert at the Russian Council on International Affairs, Moscow is likely to respond to the positioning of the US Patriot systems in Romania.
“Such things will never be ignored,” he said. “More attention will probably be paid to the air capabilities of the Black Sea Fleet and the Southern Military District in terms of compensation for air defense systems,” Kramnik said.
“There are certain weapons, for example anti-radar missiles designed to neutralize missile and radar systems.”
