U.S. Missile Interceptors Planned for Romania by 2015

The United States plans by 2015 to field ballistic missile interceptors in Romania, Interfax reported last week (see GSN, Feb. 4).

The U.S. State Department confirmed the statement by Romanian President Traian Basescu that his nation would become part of the European missile shield.

"The choice of Romania extends the missile defense into southern Europe, and we expected, in this phase, this will be online by 2015," said agency spokesman P.J. Crowley last Thursday.

Crowley said discussions with other nations on joint missile defense efforts are ongoing.

"For example, Poland agreed last October, in principle, to host the northern land-based SM-3 missile site. That development is still under consideration and discussion with Poland," he said (Interfax I/Kiev Post, Feb. 5).

The Obama administration intends to deploy land- and sea-based versions of the Standard Missile 3 system around Europe to counter short- and medium-range missiles, primarily those developed by Iran. The plan replaced a Bush administration initiative to field 10 long-range missile interceptors in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic.

Russia -- a loud objector to the old plan -- did not appear pleased Friday by the announcement of Romania's participation in its successor, the New York Times reported.

Moscow's senior envoy to NATO said the new interceptors could impact the Kremlin's stance on negotiations for a replacement pact for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (see GSN, Feb. 5).

Dmitry Rogozin said Washington had not followed through with its pledge to advise Moscow regarding updates to its plans for the European missile defense. He indicated that the Standard Missile 3 system could present a challenge to Russia's national security interests, though he did say that U.S. and Romanian officials had taken pains to convince Russia that this was not the case.

"They have some thoughts that the system could be targeted against Russia, otherwise why would they dissuade us about something we never asked about"" Rogozin said.

While the START talks are not likely to become undone, the missile-defense deployment could affect negotiations on further reductions to the nuclear arsenals of the former Cold War rivals, said Sergei Rogov, head of the Moscow-based Institute for the U.S. and Canada Studies.

"Additional issues are overloading the [U.S.-Russian] 'reset,' which is not moving very far or very fast," he said. "So I am concerned by it."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking during the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, said Washington and Moscow had agreed that the "threats and risks of missile proliferation will be assessed jointly as a first step" and that "we expect our American partners to provide exhaustive explanations on those issues," Interfax reported.

Russia's new military doctrine, finalized last week, states that the U.S. missile defense program "undermines global stability and violates the current balance of nuclear forces" (see related GSN story, today).

While the defenses intended for Romania are not thought to pose a challenge to Russia's long-range nuclear missiles, future interceptors expected to go online in 2018 could create a threat as Washington is not required to provide Moscow with information about their workings, Rogov said (Ellen Barry, New York Times , Feb. 5).

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it planned to discuss its concerns with U.S. and European officials, Interfax reported. "This is a serious issue, which we will analyze carefully," the ministry stated.

"In order to maintain peace and stability in Europe, there is a need to take carefully planned collective steps based on principles of equal and indivisible security for all states without exception. Other approaches could inflict damage on interests of strengthening European and global security," the ministry said (Interfax II, Feb. 5).

Source: Global Security Newswire (GSN), Feb. 9, 2010

Russia in stand-by mode over US missile plans in Romania

Anti-ballistic missiles are not aimed against Russia, says the US (Photo: US Missile Defense Agency)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Moscow is "concerned" and expects "proper explanations" on US plans to deploy anti-ballistic missile defence systems in Romania, but it is still interested in contributing to a "common assessment" of threats with Europe and the US, Russia's envoy to Brussels told this website.

"We took note of President Basescu's statement on his agreement to host those elements. This is a serious issue which we'll be analysing when we receive all the details regarding what exact equipment is meant to be deployed there," Mr Chizhov said in a phone interview on Monday (8 February).

Last Thursday, Romanian President Traian Basescu announced that his country had accepted an invitation by the Obama administration to host land-based anti-ballistic missiles as part of US plans to defend Europe against Iranian and other regional threats.

The rockets are set to be deployed by 2015, in a second phase of the new version of the US shield, which combines sea and land-based interceptors for short, medium and long-range missiles.

The Romanian approval process is at an early stage, as the actual agreement still needs to be negotiated between the two capitals and approved by their respective legislatures.

However, the Russian reaction contrasts with its response to similar announcements made in 2007 by the Bush administration on deploying a radar in the Czech Republic and missiles in Poland by 2011. Back then, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned of a new Cold War and threatened to place nuclear missiles in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad bordering EU members Poland and Lithuania if the plans were to go ahead.

Asked why the Russian reaction was milder this time around, Mr Chizhov said that this was a "preliminary reaction," pending further clarifications from the American side.

"It is a source of concern for us," he said, adding that Moscow was also interested to know "the reason behind the choice of Romania."

"One could argue that Romania is somewhat closer to Iran than Poland, but still, according to our information Iran will neither now nor in the foreseeable future posses any missiles capable of reaching Romania. Not to mention Poland, central Europe or the United States," the Russian envoy argued.

This view is not shared by Pentagon officials, however, who in a recent review of US' current and planned missile defence architecture note that Iran "has developed and acquired ballistic missiles capable of striking deployed forces, allies, and partners in the Middle East and eastern Europe" at an increasingly rapid pace.

The new system envisaged by Washington would see maritime interceptors deployed in the Mediterranean by 2011 and backed up by a powerful radar whose location has not yet been disclosed.

The Romanian interceptors are part of the second phase outlined in the review, which is planned to be put in place around 2015 and to expand the covered area from southern Europe to "additional Nato allies," the document reads.

A third phase would be operational by 2018 and would have interceptors located in "northern Europe." State Department spokesman Philip Crowley last week confirmed that the US was in talks with Poland for the third stage.

Warsaw is still on the table after being rebuffed by Mr Obama last year when he decided to scrap the earlier plans tabled by his predecessor. Prague is no longer considered as a potential location, however.

Russia on board?

Mr Chizhov did not rule out a future Russian contribution to the anti-missile defence system.

"We proposed to start from the beginning, with a joint assessment of risks and challenges in this field. We're ready to discuss that with the Americans and everybody else," he said.

Moscow's tempered reaction also comes against the backdrop of Mr Obama's efforts to "hit the reset button" in US-Russian relations, after they had reached a Cold War era low point during the Bush administration.

The revised missile shield should be "of no surprise to the Russian side," Nato sources told this website. It was also discussed among European allies, but no decisions on how to integrate that into a Nato architecture had been taken yet, as the upcoming summit in Lisbon this autumn would be a more appropriate occasion for it.

As for the EU side, it considered the Romania missile plan a "bilateral discussion" between a member state and the US, a spokesman for the bloc's foreign policy chief told this website.

Source: EUObserver.com

Gabus takes a chance on new electric vehicles - from Romania

Iowa car buyers looking for a new way to go green soon will be able to do so via Romania - for somewhere between $34,000 and $38,000.

Des Moines Motors owner Gene Gabus on Friday took delivery of America's first-ever EMC pickup truck, a two-seat, plug-in electric vehicle that soon will be joined by sibling cargo vans and station wagons built on the same Renault chassis.

Gabus, a former Chrysler dealer who began looking for other things to sell when he lost his franchise during the carmaker's bankruptcy last year, said the vehicles - they will be sold under the Electric Motor Cars model name - are being brought to the United States by Envision Motor Co., an Ames firm that did not immediately return phone calls Friday.

Gabus, who said he has signed on to sell the cars in Des Moines and to act as a distributor in 28 states, said the electric vehicles are built on the same chassis as gas-powered versions of the Dacia Logan, a Romanian-made vehicle that's popular in Europe.

The new Iowa models, using what Gabus described as an American-designed motor, currently are being assembled in Romania with Renault-made bodies. Then they will be shipped to the United States.

For now, there are only three - the truck, which arrived in town Friday morning, plus a van and station wagon that are expected to clear customs in Chicago early next week. The three models will soon be available for test drives, weather and Gabus permitting. The dealer said a larger supply should arrive within 45 days.

"We have roughly 100 of them that will soon be ready to be shipped and come over," Gabus said. "Now we've got to find dealers to sell them. ... We will start calling on Monday and trying to get dealers to fly into town."

Gabus, one of three current distributors, said the importers hope soon to be able to assemble the cars in Florida and possibly Iowa using surplus factory labor. No deal for that is currently in place, however.

Gabus said he's seen some significant interest in the vehicles initially from a few unnamed corporations that are intrigued by the eco-friendly possibilities of a small vehicle that can carry up to 2,000 pounds of cargo.

Beyond that, dealers plan to market the vehicles as ideal for in-town driving by "eco-type people" and "anybody that wants to fight oil companies," he said. "It's for people that are in the metro areas, but it'll eventually get out to the rural areas."

The vehicles are projected to have a 260-mile range on a full battery charge. The van will come in 10 color options.

Gabus, who said he also remains on the verge of importing Chinese-made Noble automobiles, insists Iowans are ready for more options in their motorized transportation.

"Is it going to be different? Yes," he said. "You drive into your garage to fuel up your car."



By JEFF ECKHOFF (Feb. 6, 2010)

Moscow 'concerned' by US-Romania missile shield deal

Russia's foreign ministry voiced its concern Friday at Romania's plans to host part of a new US missile shield system in Europe, saying it would seek explanations from Europe and Washington.

"This is a serious matter which we will be analysing with care," the ministry said in a statement. "Naturally, we are concerned by this. There is a need to obtain clarifications.

"We will raise this in our contacts with our American and European partners," it added.

Romania's President Traian Basescu on Thursday announced his country had agreed to host medium-range ballistic missile interceptors as part of the US system, expected to be operational by 2015.

The US State Department confirmed his announcement, saying the planned anti-missile shield in Europe was intended to protect against the "emergent threat" from Iran.

The United States in September shelved a plan to place missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland, after strong protests from Russia.

President Barack Obama's administration announced the new program in September, saying it would reconfigure the system after reevaluating the threat from Iranian long-range ballistic missiles, and deciding to focus on protecting against short- and medium-range missiles.

Source: AFP (Feb 5, 2010)



Gates Says U.S., Iran Aren’t Close to Nuclear Accord

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he doesn’t regard Iran as close to an accord with international powers on the handling of uranium.

“I don’t have the sense that we are close to an agreement,” Gates said today in Turkey’s capital Ankara. He discussed Iran with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in Munich yesterday that Iran is “approaching a final agreement” on having nuclear fuel produced outside the Islamic Republic. The country is “serious,” he said. Mottaki also today said he had talks on a possible deal with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano at the Munich Security Conference.

The U.S., the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany are working to persuade Iran to give up enrichment of uranium, which could be used to produce fuel or make a bomb. The group, which also includes China, France, Russia, and the U.K., offered a proposal that would allow Iran to swap uranium in return for enriched fuel for a medical reactor.

Iran’s response has been “quite disappointing,” Gates said. The country continues to resist the IAEA and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said.

Nothing Done

“They have done nothing to reassure the international community that they are prepared to comply with the NPT or stop their progress toward a nuclear weapon,” Gates said. “I think that various nations need to think about whether the time has come for a different tack.”

The U.S. and its partners have said that Iran’s failure to negotiate an agreement would lead to more pressure, including financial sanctions. The six nations are discussing a potential Security Council resolution calling for another round of sanctions.

Iran has not made an adequate response to the proposals, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in Munich today.

Gates travels on to Rome today and Paris on Feb. 8 in a trip that started with a NATO meeting in Istanbul.

President Barack Obama relies on Turkey, one of NATO’s two Muslim members, on a range of national security issues straddling Europe and the Middle East, including Iran and the planned withdrawal from neighboring Iraq. Turkey uses U.S. surveillance data in its fight with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which attacks Turkish targets from bases inside northern Iraq.

Assisting Turkey

Gates said he told Turkish officials that he would look for more ways to assist Turkey in the effort, citing a visit to Turkey last week by Army General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Erdogan is struggling to win domestic support for a plan to widen rights for Kurds and encourage the PKK to disarm. Ending a war that has killed 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, and cost $300 billion by government estimates, would bolster Turkey’s status as a safe route to Europe for Eurasian oil and gas. It would also help revive Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, which criticizes the treatment of Kurds.

Gates said Erdogan’s attempts to persuade PKK fighters to abandon violence as “a very positive thing.”

Gates, who also met with Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and Chief of General Staff Ilker Basbug during his Ankara stop, praised Turkey’s contribution to the NATO-led war in Afghanistan. While U.S. officials have urged other alliance members to provide more trainers, Gates said he didn’t ask for more troops from Turkey.

Turkey has about 1,700 troops in Afghanistan and heads two provincial reconstruction teams as well as the regional military command in Kabul.

Missile Defense

A NATO-wide missile defense system was also on the agenda during Gates’s visit. The parties discussed what role Turkey might play in the network, which would include an overhauled plan Obama unveiled in September, he said.

The system is intended primarily to counter any potential Iranian attack, and Gates said in Istanbul this week that NATO member countries should make it a priority of the alliance, alongside winning the war in Afghanistan.

Poland and Romania have agreed to be part of the U.S. missile defense system. Romania, across the Black Sea from Turkey, said this week it would accept ground-based interceptors as part of the radar network to detect and shoot down incoming rockets and missiles.

Gates declined to say whether he’s looking to place naval vessels carrying Aegis radar in the Black Sea, a prospect that has prompted concern from Russian officials.

Source: Bloomberg (Feb. 6, 2010)

Russia energy deals may carry high cost for Turkey

By Thomas Grove

ISTANBUL, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Deals that have strengthened energy ties between Turkey and Russia may boost Ankara's much desired control over regional gas and oil transit, but at a cost to other foreign players in its downstream market.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan last year shook hands on agreements ranging from oil and natural gas to nuclear energy technology in return for Erdogan's support for a Kremlin-backed gas pipeline.

Beyond securing the energy supplies needed to feed fast paced economic growth seen returning this year, the deals will help Turkey realise its dream of capitalising on its location between Caspian energy reserves and European consumers.

Apart from Turkey's support for Russia's South Stream gas pipeline, which aims to feed European markets, the deals centred on Russian backing for Turkey's Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline that would carry oil from Black Sea ports to the Mediterranean.

But Turkey's blessing of a select handful of Russian and Turkish firms to carry out planned energy projects -- and signs that Turkey may commission Russia to build its first nuclear plant without a tender -- have caused worries.

"Some companies close to the government are being awarded special projects and given special partnerships -- that's how you hurt the market and competition, this will hurt the liberalisation of the market," said energy analyst Necdet Pamir.

Turkey's fast-growing power generation and distribution sectors as well as its gas market, tapped for liberalisation, have attracted the attention of numerous investors looking to build power stations and bid for projects.

Last year Austria's OMV said it wanted European Union member candidate Turkey to become its third strategic centre after Austria and Romania.

But competition may become an issue if the government's favour continues to centre on a handful of companies, including Calik Enerji whose parent company Calik Holding's chief executive is the Prime Minister's son-in-law.

"Concerns regarding competition could arise from greater Russian presence in power generation as well as downstream power and gas markets. This could discourage market entrants upstream and downstream," said Irmak Bademli of Eurasia Group.

Calik Holding has denied receving preferential treatment from the government.

WESTERN ALLIES

On Wednesday the U.S ambassador met with Energy Minister Taner Yildiz to express the desire of U.S. firms to build Turkey's first nuclear power station.

Government sources have said the licence for the Turkish nuclear power station may simply be handed to Moscow, which already supplies 60 percent of Turkey's gas needs, if they can agree over pricing and other technical issues.

Such a move would add to worries over the possibility that NATO-member Turkey's policies are shifting away from Ankara's traditional Western friends.

"Turkey's Western allies would not be happy if the nuclear plant is built without a tender," said Bademli.

Turkey's desire to turn itself into a hub for European and other regional energy supplies has long frustrated partners. The Turks have sought to dominate deals, most notably with the Nabucco Pipeline consortium, to which Turkey belong.

Nabucco plans to pump 31 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe to cut the continent's reliance on Russian gas.

Last year Turkey demanded that it be given special rights to siphon gas off the 31 billion cubic metre capacity pipeline and resell it.

With other sell-offs looming, like power production and distribution assets, analysts wonder to what lengths Turkey will go in favouring its Russian partners and their Turkish counterparts.

"We're concerned about the direction Turkey is heading particularly on the gas side. Companies are looking to see if there is a new policy direction, whether Turkey will remain open to the market or if we could see more opaque policy," said one diplomatic source.

The market is particularly interested in the future of 34 bcm of gas import licences, held by state firm Botas and which were considered for a sell off by the end of last year.

Turkish firm Aksa Dogalgaz, which Erdogan and Putin have paired with Gazprom, is positioning itself to import 6 bcm over Turkey's western line that imports Russian gas. Aksa already has some 10 domestic gas distribution grids.

"We're not only going to be 63 percent dependent on Russia for gas imports, but Gazprom will also have a strong hand in the gas distribution system through Aksa as well. This is a dangerous game for national energy security," said Pamir.

Source: Reuters (Feb 4, 2010)

Romania backs U.S. plan to host anti-missile shield

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's top defense body approved a plan by Washington on Thursday to deploy interceptor missiles in the Black Sea state as part of a missile shield to protect Europe, President Traian Basescu said.

The announcement came unexpectedly and Basescu gave few details on the project. But it appeared to be part of the revamped approach taken by U.S. President Barack Obama since he scrapped a Bush-era plan for a radar site and interceptor rockets in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The missile shield has angered eastern Europe's former Cold War master Russia, who sees it as a threat to its own nuclear arsenal and has bristled at what it says is Washington's meddling in its sphere of influence.

A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment and said the foreign ministry would issue a statement on the matter on Friday.

Basescu said the Supreme Defense Council -- Romania's top military and security authority -- had approved a U.S. proposal to include Romania in a system against "potential attacks with ballistic missiles or medium-range rockets."

The U.S. offer was brought to Bucharest by Ellen Taucher, Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control who leads a team of American experts in Romania, Basescu said.

"Terrestrial interceptors will be located inside the national territory," he said.

He said the U.S. facilities were expected to become operational in 2015 but the plan's specifics, now under discussion with U.S. partners, would need parliamentary approval in order to come into force.

In past years, parliament has solidly backed participation in U.S. and NATO-led military ventures, including Romanian troop deployments to hotspots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The leu currency was unchanged after the announcement, trading at about 4.1240 per euro.

NO THREAT TO RUSSIA

Obama's decision to scrap the Bush plan disappointed both Prague and Warsaw.

Poland has expressed a readiness to take part in the new project and could potentially host some of the SM-3 interceptors that target short and medium-range missiles. But officials have made no further public comment on the issue in recent months.

"The U.S. has determined that Romania is well-suited for the location of this system to provide protection for European NATO Allies," the U.S. embassy in Bucharest said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi said the plan was first presented to Basescu during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Bucharest in October but was not made public.

"This became official today," Baconschi said.

Unlike some other EU states, popular support for U.S. military policy is very high in Romania. It hosts a small base at the Black Sea and training facilities, part of a Pentagon shift from large Cold War-era centres in western Europe toward smaller installations nearer hot spots such as the Middle East.

Basescu said participation of Romania, a European Union and NATO member of 22 million perched in the southeast corner of the continent, was not meant to threaten Moscow.

"The new system is not against Russia. I want to categorically stress this, Romania (will) not host a system against Russia, but against other threats," he said.

Obama's revamped plan, unveiled last September, includes land-and sea-based missile systems in and around the Gulf to defend against what it says is a growing Iranian missile threat.

His administration argues the plan addresses those threats more effectively than the Bush plan, although it has drawn ire from Tehran, which accuses Washington of stirring up anti-Iranian sentiment.

Source: Reuters, Feb 4, 2010