Romanian Parliament finalizes approval for Patriot system transfer to Ukraine
Illustrative photo: Ukraine will receive Patriot from Romania (Getty Images)
The lower house of the Romanian parliament has approved a bill that provides Ukraine with the Patriot system. The final step is up to Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, according to Reuters.
The agency reports that the government submitted the bill to transfer the Patriot system to Parliament on Monday, September 2. It was approved by the Senate (the upper house of Romania's Parliament).
Once Romanian President Klaus Iohannis signs the bill, the government will issue a decree to transfer the air defense system to Ukraine.
Romania decided to provide Ukraine with one of its two operational Patriot batteries. The condition for the supply is that Romania’s allies must provide another Patriot system in return.
By the way, Romania signed a $4 billion contract for the purchase of the Patriot system back in 2017. The country has already received four batteries, two of which are operational.
Background
On June 20, Romania promised to transfer a Patriot battery to Ukraine. This decision was made by the country’s Supreme Council of National Defense.
However, more than two months have passed without the delivery. As noted by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, some allies are delaying the provision of promised Patriot systems to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian army continued to attack Ukraine with ballistic missiles, which can only be intercepted by the Patriot and SAMP/T systems. Today, September 3, the enemy struck the Communication Institute in Poltava, killing 41 people and injuring nearly 200.
Earlier, Ukraine requested at least seven Patriot systems to protect against regular Russian ballistic missile attacks.
