At Deveselu on Thursday, Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said that the ballistic missile defence shield there observes the provisions of the UN Charter and is exclusively for legitimate defence against ballistic missile threats, without being targeted against anyone in particular.

"The facility at Deveselu fully observes the provisions of the UN Charter, and it isn't targeted against anyone in particular; it is a means exclusively for legitimate defence against ballistic missile threats, at the same time strengthening NATO's ballistic missile defence capability and expanding the cover and protection area for the southern and central allied states in Europe, significantly reducing the risk of some possible ballistic attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic space," the Ciolos said at the inauguration of the Aegis Ashore missile defence system at Deveselu.

Ciolos said this event is a very important moment, "both for Romania and the United States of America, as well as the North Atlantic Alliance and the European security overall," because the security environment continues to be threatened.

"The security environment continues to face challenges, threats and risks in the European and Euro-Atlantic space. In the eastern neighbourhood, we see both the perpetration of frozen conflicts and the emergence of new conflicts, which confirms (...) the strategic importance of the Black Sea region in the equation of Euro-Atlantic security and stability. In the southern proximity, on the grounds of instability from the Middle East and Northern Africa we are witnessing unprecedented widening of uncontrolled migration doubled by terrorist threats and the spread to Europe of security risks related to ISIL-Daesh," said Ciolos.

According to him, the project implements the vision proposed under Romania's National Defence Strategy and "proves once more that Romania is a predictable player and a trustworthy ally."

The Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defence system at Deveselu was inaugurated on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is paying a visit to Romania on the occasion, as well as US Deputy Secretary of Defence Robert Work.