Romanian President Traian Basescu says his country has approved a plan to host a new US anti-missile shield.

President Basescu said the Supreme Defence Council, the senior military and security authority, had approved Washington's proposal to include Romania in a system against "potential attacks with ballistic missiles or medium-range rockets". 
 

The system is scheduled to become operational in 2015 and is aimed at "defending against current and emerging ballistic missile threats from Iran".

President Barack Obama had called on Bucharest to allow the US to deploy the system on Romanian territory. The new system replaces the missile shield proposed by the Bush administration. The Bush plan consisted of a series of radar stations and interceptor missile batteries in Poland and the Czech Republic.
 

Neither plan has been welcomed by Russia although the Kremlin was more vehemently opposed to the Bush-era plan as it saw it as interfering in Russia's sphere of influence.