NATO leaders say the US shield will help protect Balkans and the United States

Political and military leaders from NATO have praised a new US defence system installed in Europe saying it will help protect the Balkans as well the US.

“The anti-missile shield installed by the United States in Europe is efficient, as recent tests show, and a good investment,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO secretary general said in Bucharest yesterday during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

“Apart from this, if we look at it from an European perspective, it is a good deal, because the US provides a defence system which represents a contribution to the NATO base defence system”, Rasmussen added.

Romanian President Traian Basescu also stressed that the shield elements the US will install in Romania are a defensive instrument aimed to defend Balkan countries as well.

“The proliferation of missile technology increases the possibility of attacks. Southeastern Europe is also exposed to such threats, so NATO partners must seek security guarantees within the alliance, not outside”, Basescu said.