NATO Allows Missile Defense Shield, Denies Membership To Fmr. Soviet Countries

NATO has contradicted itself by denying Ukraine and Georgia membership because they didn't want to stir-up tensions with Russia.

NATO leaders promised Ukraine and Georgia on Thursday they would one day join the Western defense alliance after rebuffing U.S. demands to put the former Soviet republics on an immediate path to membership.

Germany, France and smaller NATO states withstood pressure from U.S. President George W. Bush to offer the two countries a Membership Action Plan (MAP), a first step towards entry, saying neither was ready and such a move would risk provoking Russia.

But NATO leaders softened the blow by making a vaguer pledge to invite the two to join the alliance at some point in the future and saying former Cold War foe Moscow should have no influence on membership decisions.

 

Yet, they approve the missile defense shield for Poland and Czech Republic, which will stir-up tensions with Russia.

President Bush won NATO's endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a "breakthrough agreement" for the military alliance.

"Now it is clearly understood in the alliance that the challenges of the 21st century, the threats of the 21st century, make it necessary to have missile defense that can defend the countries of Europe," Rice told reporters at the NATO summit.

Progress on missile defense represented perhaps the biggest boon to Bush from the NATO summit. Russia has fiercely opposed it.

Rice also noted that NATO has "also asked Russia to stop its criticism of the alliance effort and to join in the cooperative efforts that have been offered to it by the United States."

A NATO statement calls on the alliance to explore ways in which the planned U.S. project, to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, can be linked with future missile shields elsewhere. It says leaders should come up with recommendations to be considered at their next meeting in 2009.

The U.S. plan calls for 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a tracking radar site in the Czech Republic.