(ATHENS) - Romania favours a NATO missile shield to protect European Union member-states from "third country" threats, the Romanian defence minister said during a visit to Greece on Thursday.

"NATO should plan for... a missile shield to protect all European Union countries, including Bulgaria, Greece and Romania," Teodor Melescanu told reporters after talks with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Meimarakis.

"We have discussed that (Romania) can also cooperate in such a project in the future," he said according to a Greek defence ministry statement.

"In our opinion it would be best for European Union countries to have their own protection system as regards... the possibility of problems created by third states," he said.

Melescanu had been asked about reports that a controversial US missile defence shield against Iranian attacks might be extended to Romania after the Czech Republic and Poland.

He later clarified that Romania was not planning to join the US shield plans which have drawn vehement opposition from Russia.

Washington will position 10 interceptor missiles in Poland -- plus a radar facility in neighbouring Czech Republic -- by 2011-2013 to complete a system already in place in the Britain, Greenland and the United States.

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