Romania will send the Ferdinand frigate and a crew of 207 to block any vessel which might carry munition to Libya, as NATO requested, Romanian president Traian Basescu said on Tuesday after the country's Supreme Defense Council. The Romanian ship should be ready to leave in 30 days. The country will have to spend around EUR 4.5 million to keep the Ferdinand frigate running for three months in the Mediterranean sea.

“The main beneficiaries of the oil resources in Libya are Italy, France, UK and the US. There is no need of a war for them to get what they already receive. The intervention is meant to protect the population from a leader who is killing his own people,” said Traian Basescu.

An international coalition made of US, France, Italy, Canada and UK, among others, started bombing Libya during the week-end, against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. Romanian president Basescu has said the country will follow NATO's lead and respect the resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council.

Read more on the Libia situation here and here.

editor@romania-insider.com