Each nation has the right to choose its own path. Such a statement NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made today during the press-conference with the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis at Mihail Kogălniceanu Military Base.

“So NATO is a defensive alliance. NATO is here to preserve peace and NATO is… has proven for more than 70 years that we defend, we protect, but NATO, of course, remains a defensive alliance. And when it comes to the Ballistic Missile Defense site in Romania, that is also a defensive site.

And it’s about addressing missile threats from the south. So this is not any kind of offensive systems, which are part of the missile defense site in Romania. I think there is no doubt that what we see now is that Russia is the aggressor. Russia has actually invaded and taken a part of a neighbour, Ukraine, illegally annexed Crimea, they continue to de-stabilize eastern Ukraine through the separatists in Donbass, and now they have built up more than 100,000 troops, combat ready troops, in and around Ukraine. And the build-up continues.

So there is no doubt that in a way the aggressor we see now is Russia and we have to make sure that we provide support to our close partner Ukraine, that the same time that we prevent any misunderstanding, any miscalculation about NATO’s readiness to protect and defend all allies. And by doing that, we are also preventing any attack on any NATO ally country, including of course Romania”, - said Jens Stoltenberg.