DefMin Fifor: Deveselu base, perfectly operational

National Defence Minister Mihai Fifor Thursday told AGERPRES that the Deveselu base is "perfectly operational" and is at the same time a key-element for NATO's eastern flank defence. 

Minister Mihai Fifor's reaction comes upon the affirmations of former premier Adrian Nastase who stated that the Deveselu shield is allegedly obsolete as compared to Russia's military hardware. 

"I have the utmost respect for president Adrian Nastase. I do not comment his affirmations, I have not commented upon nor do I intend to comment upon president Vladimir Putin's statements. I can, in full certainty, tell you that the military base at Deveselu is perfectly operational; it is key-element base for the defence of this flank of the North-Atlantic Alliance. We are currently perfectly operational and I do not believe that the issue might be put in those terms, ever. As a matter of fact, all the endowments the Romanian Army has with its strategic partnership are perfectly operational and I am telling you that through everything that we have been doing since Romania's Government allocated 2 percent of the GDP for the Army's endowment we have shown that we want to implement the 8 major programmes for the endowment of the Army, so as to raise the Romanian Army's capability and reaction force as partner of an extremely solid Alliance," National Defence Minister Mihai Fifor stated for AGERPRES. 

Former premier and leader of the Social Democratic Party Adrian Nastase stated for adevarul.ro that "the shield at Deveselu is an outdated matter, which will probably be taken over by the Technical Museum in the nearby future." 

Minister Fifor was present, Wednesday through Thursday, in Neamt county, where he visited a military unit and a spa resort in Baltatesti, under the Army's administration.