Romania's prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, said in the evening of May 12, speaking for Antena 3, that the minister of defense Angel Tîlvăr expressed in a discussion "serious reservations" about the possibility of Romania giving a Patriot defense system to Ukraine. 

"But the decision is taken together with the president in the country's supreme defence council CSAT. We're going to make the wisest decision for Romania in the first place," said the prime minister, quoted by G4media.ro.

Marcel Ciolacu also said he didn't discuss the topic with president Klaus Iohannis after the latter's return from the US. 

During his visit, president Iohannis mentioned for the first time the idea of giving Ukraine a Patriot system and stressed that he was not speaking about the system that is operational at this moment in the country. Romania ordered seven such systems under a contract signed in 2017, out of which a couple are in various implementation stages, and one is operational. 

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)