Parliament adopted the project regarding the donation of Patriot Missile System to Ukraine

The Chamber of Deputies adopted, on Tuesday, the Government’s project regarding the donation of a Patriot surface-to-air missile system to third parties. The measure applies to Ukraine. The bill was passed by the Senate in Bucharest a day ago and the next step is to be promulgated by the Romanian President.   245 votes “for”, 29 against and one abstention were registered in the lower chamber. The draft law has as its regulatory object the approval of a donation deed for a Patriot surface-to-air missile system, in the configuration agreed with the American partner.   Also, according to the normative act, “the Government of Romania is empowered to undertake the necessary steps, for the reconstitution of the ground-based air defense capability, related to the essential endowment program “High-range surface-to-air missile system (HSAM)”, by assigning to the Government of the United States of America of the Letter of Offer and Acceptance type state contracts – (LOA) specific to the Foreign Military Sales Program – (FMS) for the purchase of 1 (one) Patriot surface-to-air missile system configuration 3+, respectively of the major equipment , means of transport, materials, parts, maintenance equipment, the initial logistic support package and the training service, cryptographic and special regime equipment”.   At the same time, the Ministry of National Defense is empowered to ensure the sums necessary to pay the fees and commissions related to the reconstitution of the ground-based air defense capability.   In the statement of reasons for the project, MApN claims that “the completion of the donation deed will contribute to strengthening Romania’s position as a regional security provider and to strengthening the partnership relationship with the United States of America, which offers an essential guarantee for national security, with increased valences in the current difficult and complex regional and international security environment”.   AUR, dubbed as a right-wing party, was the only parliamentary party that voted against the bill. “The fact that we are the only party that opposes the donation of the Patriot system to Ukraine shows only one thing: we are the only party that is concerned about the security of Romanians. And, from December onwards, when the power will change, those who were in the situation of illegality in May-September 2024, will be accused of the criminal law they violated”, said AUR leader George Simion after the vote.   In his turn, AUR MP Mircia Chelaru declared that the law represents “one of the hottest moments of a major political decision, a hot potato”. He mentioned that he supports the effort of the Ukrainians in the war that they are undeniably fighting from a military, material, economic and moral point of view.   “There is no room for any kind of speculation in this regard, but I draw attention to the fact that a moment has come and it is the moment for Romania’s military policy, as well as the foreign one, to have that verticality and to give up free obedience and the practice of a policy continuous worm. (…) It is inadmissible to produce a donation from an impoverished state, whose budgetary deficit is catastrophic, and to further assume the restoration of the operational capability from resources not yet identified”, said Chelaru, specifying that the AUR parliamentarians voted against the project.   Deputy Anamaria Gavrila stated, for her part, that CSAT had no right to donate a Patriot system. “Why is he now coming before the Parliament to ask to purchase something new? Because it was illegal, because they had no right. This system is not worth a billion euros, it is worth much more because Romania is on the border with the war, and the value must be estimated according to the material and human damages that this system could defend for 10 years”, she said.   USR Deputy Nicu Falcoi specified that “The Government issues an emergency ordinance for the donation of this Patriot system, the Parliament does not approve the donation of this system”. “We are now talking about the acquisition of a new Patriot system, a system to replace the one we are donating to Ukraine (…). Look at the states around us that are closer to this war, all of them have donated countless military facilities over time precisely with the idea of keeping this war as far away from our borders as possible. If we don’t do that, Russia doesn’t stop in Ukraine, if Ukraine is defeated by Russia, we could be much more affected than by donating a Patriot system“, says F?lcoi.   The PSD MP Mihai Fifor said that, when he signed, in December 2017, the procurement documents for the Patriot systems, they were “whiners” who said that Romania does not need these systems.   “Romania needs air defense, Romania is a member of a political-military alliance – the NATO Alliance, Romania has obligations, it has duties, Romania must show that it is not for nothing that we have been claiming for years that we are the main security provider in the Sea Black, the main regional security provider. We are doing nothing but joining a collective effort to support Ukraine,” Fifor said.   According to Fifor, Romania is not in a situation where it cannot defend itself. “Romania has the necessary defense systems. We are doing nothing but, I repeat, to join an effort to support a country in need,” Fifor said.   MApN explained, however, that there is a need to restore “ground-based air defense capability, by purchasing from the US Government, through the FMS program, a system similar to the one donated, mainly from non-reimbursable external sources, using the specific FMS mechanisms and opportunities existing funding within the international partnerships supporting Ukraine”.   The bill also provides an amount that will be required to cover the transfer of the Patriot system. “The value of the taxes and commissions related to the purchase of a PATRIOT system, in a configuration similar to the one proposed to be the object of the donation to Ukraine, was estimated at approximately USD 60 million. The funds are fully provided by the budget of the Ministry of National Defense.”