Romania denies accepting U.S. nukes from Turkey base

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Romanian foreign ministry, MAE on Thursday, August 18 dismissed claims that the U.S. has started transferring nuclear weapons from Turkey to Romania amid tensions in relations between Washington and Ankara, the Balkan Insight reports.

“The MAE firmly rejects this information,” the ministry said in a press release, without elaborating.

Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc said such media reports were mere speculation and “so far there have not been any plans or discussions [among NATO members] on the issue.”

The statements came after website Euractiv reported on Thursday morning that more than 20 B61 nuclear weapons were being moved from Turkey’s Incirlik air base to the Deveselu base in Romania.

According to one of the two anonymous sources quoted by Euractiv, “U.S.-Turkey relations had deteriorated so much following the [recent attempted] coup that Washington no longer trusted Ankara to host the weapons”.

NATO said however that U.S. allies must ensure that “all components of NATO’s nuclear deterrent remain safe, secure, and effective”.

In Romania, analysts said they doubted whether the transfer would happen.