BUCHAREST, September 2. /TASS/. The Romanian government has approved the draft law on the transfer of Patriot systems to Ukraine, Spokesman Mihai Constantin told reporters.
"The government has approved the draft law supplementing Law 222/2017 on ground-based air defense and will send it to the parliament as a matter of urgency," the Agerpres news agency quoted him as saying. "Specifically, the bill provides for the transfer of the Patriot surface-to-air missile system to a third party. Once the law is approved by parliament, the government will be able to issue a decree allowing this transfer to take place. The government is also authorized to restore the country's surface-to-air defense capability from the budget of the National Defense Ministry," he said.
Romania's Supreme National Defense Council decided on June 20 to transfer one Patriot system to Ukraine. At the same time, it was emphasized that the system would be transferred on condition that Romania continues negotiations with its NATO allies on obtaining a similar or equivalent system to ensure the security of the national airspace.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba complained to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels on August 29 that Kiev had not received all the Patriot systems it had been promised. "A number of Patriot systems were promised but have not yet been delivered," he said.
Romania has purchased seven US Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missile defense systems for 4 billion dollars, four of which are already in the country and two of which are on alert.