Romanian Minister: Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, operational in 2020

The US Patriot anti-aircraft missile system will become operational in Romania in 2020, defense minister Mihai Fifor said yesterday. The Government will acquire the first Patriot missile system this year. The Senate approved the acquisition yesterday and the bill will reach the Chamber of Deputies today. The vote on the Patriot acquisition was postponed last week, after PSD and ALDE senators from the defense committee failed to attend a meeting that had this bill on the agenda. This determined a surprise visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Bucharest. Tillerson had a meeting with Romanian foreign affairs minister Teodor Melescanu at the airport. He asked about the delay in adopting the Patriot bill and Melescanu assured him that it was just a matter of lack of quorum, which sometimes happens in the Parliament. The opposition parties accused the governing coalition of trying to block the acquisition. The first Patriot missile system, for which Romania has already received the acceptance letter from the US part, is worth USD 764.7 million, without VAT. “In the coming period, we will come up with other drafts of laws on the purchase of other equipment,” Fifor said. Romanian Govt. approves first Patriot system purchase editor@romania-insider.com