Germany To "Talk" about NATO Missile Shield
France surrenders
Yahoo! NewsWIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) - Germany called on Friday for talks on creating a
NATO missile defense shield for Europe, a day after the United States vowed to press ahead with its system without alliance approval.
The head of the
Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said on Thursday Washington wanted to secure the understanding of its 25 NATO members for its plans to build a missile shield in eastern Europe, but was not seeking their green light.
The United States' European allies are concerned the move will damage their ties with Moscow, and Germany has led calls for wider consultations on the project. Ukraine has also complained Washington had not consulted with it.
"We should discuss developing such a defense measure within a NATO framework," German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters on the margins of a meeting of EU defense chiefs in the German city of Wiesbaden.
Jung said Russian concerns over the shield could be allayed by talks within NATO's existing NATO-Russia Council, a forum for discussing defense issues between the former Cold War foes.
"I think that is the right way forward," he said.
The United States wants to set up a radar system in the Czech Republic and a missile battery in Poland as part of a shield that would counter missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
I fail to see why these countries are wavering on the issue of a missile defense shield. Why should they be concerned that a country who is slowly reverting back to a communist state see it as an act of aggression? Russia becomes giddy when they get a chance to form alliances with anyone the U.S. deems to be a state sponsor of terror or part of the 'axis of evil'. The time to be concerned with Russia's opinion passed long ago.
