Romania's External Affairs Minister Teodor Baconschi (in picture) and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will on Tuesday sign the agreement to place the US anti-missile shield in Romania,, according to the US department of State. The agreement was initially expected to be signed by Romanian president Traian Basescu and US President Barack Obama, as Basescu is on an official visit to the US. He will however not meet Obama, but vicepresident Joe Biden instead.

The anti-missile shield signing will take place at 19,15 hours, Romania time (12,25 US time), following a bilateral reunion in Washington. This legally-binding agreement will allow for the establishment and operation of a U.S. land-based SM-3 ballistic missile defense system in Romania, in Deveselu.

The official announcement here.

Elements of the anti-missile shield will be located in Romanian village of Deveselu, in Olt county, at an unused military camp, according to Romanian president Traian Basescu. Several locations have been analyzed to locate the 24 interception missiles, which will be functional in 2015. Then, the US four-step anti-missile shield program will get to its second phase. The US has previosuly scrapped a plan to locate the anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and chose Romania instead. Parts of the entire system would however be located in the two CEE countries we well.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Foreign Affairs Ministry)