Romania’s coalition government today approved a bill facilitating the donation of a Patriot air defence system to Ukraine, sending it to parliament for final approval.

Romania, a NATO member since 2004, shares a 650-km border with Ukraine and has repeatedly received Russian drone fragments entering its territory as Moscow attacks Ukrainian ports just across the Danube river border.

In June, Bucharest announced that it would donate one of two operational Patriot systems to Ukraine on the condition that the allies replace it with a similar air defence system.

It is part of the delivery of five such systems and other strategic air defense units that NATO nations have promised to Kiev as it fights back against the Russian invasion.

The bill also states that Romania will send letters of offer and acceptance to the US to replace the donated array, and it expects to pay about $60 million in taxes and fees.

 In 2017, Romania signed a $4 billion deal to buy Patriot arrays made by RTX Corp., the largest deal of its kind to date.

The first delivery took place in 2020. Romania has so far received four such systems, two of which are in operational readiness.

Source: AMNA

Also read: Poland | Signing of a €1.13 billion deal for the production of 48 Patriot launchers