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Bratislava, Oct. 24, 2009 – NATO defense ministers
gathering here Friday gave broad support to the Obama administration's
revised plans for a missile defense shield in Europe.
"Ministers welcomed the fact that the new U.S. approach puts European
missile defense more in a NATO context," said NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
He told a news conference that NATO leaders are expected to agree at a
summit in Portugal next year to sign the missile defense plan, making it
an alliance mission.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also said he had found "broad allied
support" for the plan, adding the revised missile shield would make it
easier for NATO allies and possibly Russia to join in.
The possibility of cooperation with Russia marks a major shift from
Moscow's forceful opposition to the previous missile defense plans drawn
up by the Bush administration that would have sited U.S. interceptor
missiles in Poland and a high-tech radar base in the Czech Republic.
Russia viewed the proposed bases in the former Warsaw Pact nations as a
threat to its nuclear deterrent, even though Washington insisted they
were aimed at a potential danger from Iran.
Obama's team says their plan announced last month reflects new
technological advances and a revised assessment of the threat from Iran.
"The changes proposed will provide for a more capable and flexible
missile defense system sooner than was the case under the previous plan
and with a greater capacity to adapt as threats evolve," Gates told a
news conference.
Russia has reacted positively to the Obama proposals which would lead to
a phased introduction of missile defenses, starting with the deployment
of interceptors in Southeastern Europe within the next couple of years
to protect against a possible attack from the Middle East.
It foresees the placing of defenses against longer range missiles by
2015.
Gates also said a radar station in southern Russia could make a useful
contribution to the U.S.-NATO shield.
"It would be much easier to tie it in to Russian capabilities should
they choose to join us," Gates said.
NATO is already working with Russia to develop a short-range battlefield
missile defense system.
Source: Xinhua, October 23, 2009
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