Former US Ambassador in Bucharest: Trump’s election will not affect Deveselu missile shield

Mark Gitenstein, the former U.S. Ambassador in Bucharest between 2009 and 2012, says that he has never heard Donald Trump saying something negative about the missile shield. “I don’t see him weakening the shield, as for the army, he will certainly want to continue the deep strategic partnership that we have,” Gitenstein added, reports local Hotnews.ro. He also explained that Trump had expressed during the campaign his concern on Iran. The purpose of the defensive shield at Deveselu was to protect NATO members from a possible attack of Iran, according to the former U.S. Ambassador. Gitenstein also says that he doesn’t believe that the elections’ results will have a significant impact on the relationships between Romania and the U.S. However, other experts believe that Donald Trump may try to reach an agreement with Russia, which would affect the countries in Eastern Europe. “I think the result of the U.S. elections is very bad for Romania, unfortunately. You will have to fight to maintain the American military presence in Romania as there will be pressures to eliminate this presence. You have the Deveselu anti-missile shield, and this makes Russia unhappy. There will be pressures to remove this base,” said Stephen Blank, a former professor at the U.S. Army War College. He thinks that Romania’s leaders will have to increase the defense spending and to convince the new U.S. President of their country’s importance for the U.S. defense strategy. editor@romania-insider.com