EU-DIGEST

US to abandon Polish-Czech missile shield, lobbyist says - by Andrew Rettman

The United States has all-but abandoned plans to house anti-missile bases in Poland and the Czech republic, according to a senior White House lobbyist. Riki Ellison, the chairman of the 10,000 member-strong Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said in Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza on Thursday (26 August) that the US has changed its mind to avoid a rift with Russia and is now looking at Israel, Turkey, the Balkans or ship-borne facilities instead."The signals given by generals from the Pentagon are clear: the current US government is looking for different solutions on the question of missile defense than Poland and the Czech republic," he said.

"The new [US] team is paying more attention to Russian arguments," the lobbyist added.
"Obama's people believe that many problems in the world can be more easily solved together with Moscow ...It's a question of priorities. For many Democrats, the priority is disarmament and they are capable of sacrificing a lot in order to achieve a new agreement with Russia on the reduction of strategic [nuclear] weapons."

Labels: Czech Republic, EU, Missile Crises, Poland, US

Value of European Missile Defense Questioned

A number of independent assessments have highlighted the cost and questioned the effectiveness of U.S. missile defense systems proposed for deployment in Europe. It would cost between $9 billion and $13 billion to field a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland, the Congressional Budget Office found, adding that the European system would not protect the entire continent against Iranian missiles. The United States in the last 24 years has spent $144 billion on programs to defend the country against missile threats, according to the agency. "Some observers also continue to question how much confidence there should be in the system's potential operational or combat effectiveness based on the types of tests conducted and the test results to date," the Congressional Research Service said in January.

Labels: Eastern Europe, EU, Missile Crises

Managing Missile Defense's Demise - by Jan Jires

The U.S. missile defense project has always been a divisive issue both at home and abroad. Domestic critics of the project, which the Bush administration vigorously promoted, have questioned the technical feasibility of the proposed system as well as its cost-effectiveness. Of course, it is still possible that the "secret letter scoop" is a part of some clever scheme developed by the administration to push the Russians into a corner by demonstrating that they are unwilling to cooperate (or unable to deliver) on Iran - even when the USA is ready to make substantial concessions. Perhaps the Central European allies were informed in advance about the plan and assured they were not going to be thrown overboard. If this is the case, hats off to the administration.

Note EU-Digest: If the letter was written it certainly shows savy on the part of the Obama Administration.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, US

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia, US

Clinton Says US Could 'Reconsider' European Missile Defense Plan

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Obama administration might reconsider plans for a missile defense system in Europe, if Iran stopped what U.S. officials believe is a drive for nuclear weapons. Clinton met with Czech Republic Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose government - along with Poland - has agreed to host the system. The Obama administration has stopped short of fully embracing the missile defense program that was avidly pursued by the Bush White House, with the Obama team citing concerns about its technical viability. In her joint press appearance with her Czech Republic counterpart, Secretary Clinton reiterated those concerns, while also suggesting the program could be shelved if Iran halts its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

She said the decisions on timing and deployment of the system are "largely technical matters" and said Iranian behavior would be a key factor in whether the program ultimately goes forward.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, US

Moscow eyes pan-European security - by Sergei Blagove

As Moscow's assertiveness is anticipated to continue in 2009, the Russian authorities have come up with an ambitious foreign policy initiative: The Kremlin insists that a new pan-European security treaty, suggested by President Dmitry Medvedev, will help to avoid conflicts like its August war with Georgia, as well as disagreements on issues like US missile defense plans. While the West has responded coolly to the initiative, Russia argues that Europe lacks a coherent security system and that Russia will be forced to deal with new threats on its own. Europe is yet to create a system of collective security, open to all and guaranteeing equal security for all, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks published on 15 December, adding that NATO's eastward expansion continued to create problems for Russia and for Euro-Atlantic policies. Other officials were less diplomatic, indicating that Russia's traditional fears of western encirclement remained on the agenda.

Russian military officials insist the country's nuclear deterrent will be further developed to counter the US missile defense plans. The development plans include the deployment of new inter-continental missiles capable of overcoming the US missile shield, Russian Strategic Missile Forces Commander General Nikolai Solovtsov said on 1 December. He also said the Strategic Missile Forces aimed to hold 13 missile tests in 2009.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, US

Czech Republic holds Senate runoff elections

Partial results from Czech elections to fill almost one-third of the Senate indicate Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's party will lose its majority in the upper house. Results from more than half of polling stations show the opposition Social Democrats leading second-round elections for 22 of the 26 seats up for grabs in the 81-seat Senate. The opposition party had campaigned on criticism of the government's plans for placing a U.S. missile defense radar base in the country.

Labels: Czech Republic, Elections, EU, Missile Crises

ANTIMISSILE SHIELD: RUSSIA TO AIM AT POLISH AND CZECH SITES

Russia might be pointing missiles at US strategic objectives in Central Europe, such as the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic set aside for the enlargement to Eastern Europe of the US anti-missile system for national defence, the “shield” that Moscow considers a direct threat to its own security. The warning, which has come in a period of high tension between the Kremlin and the West over the conflict in Georgia, was given by General Nikolai Solovtsov, RVSN (the Russian Strategic Missile Forces) commander and quoted by the independent news service Interfax.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia; US

Missile Defense: Washington and Poland just moved the World closer to War - by F.William Engdah

"The signing on August 14 of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Poland to deploy on Polish soil US ‘interceptor missiles’ is the most dangerous move towards nuclear war the world has seen since the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis. Far from a defensive move to protect European NATO states from a Russian nuclear attack, as military strategists have pointed out, the US missiles in Poland pose a total existential threat to the future existence of the Russian nation. The Russian Government has repeatedly warned of this since US plans were first unveiled in early 2007. Now, despite repeated diplomatic attempts by Russia to come to an agreement with Washington, the Bush Administration, in the wake of a humiliating US defeat in Georgia, has pressured the Government of Poland to finally sign the pact. The consequences could be unthinkable for Europe and the planet. The preliminary deal to place elements of the US global missile defense shield was signed by Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and US chief negotiator John Rood on August 14. Under the terms, Washington plans to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland coupled with a radar system in the Czech Republic, which it ludicrously claims are intended to counter possible attacks from what it calls "rogue states," including Iran.

To get the agreement Washington agreed to reinforce Poland's air defenses. The deal is still to be approved by the two countries' governments and Poland's parliament. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in televised remarks that "the events in the Caucasus show clearly that such security guarantees are indispensable." The US-Polish missile talks had been dragging for months before recent hostilities in Georgia. Any illusions that a Democratic Obama Presidency would mean a rollback of such provocative NATO and US military moves of recent years should be dismissed as dangerous wishful thinking. Obama’s foreign policy team in addition to father Zbigniew Brzezinski, includes Brzezinski’s son, Ian Brzezinski, current US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Affairs. Ian Brzezinski is a devout backer of US missile defense policy, as well as Kosovo independence and NATO expansion into Ukraine and Georgia. "

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, US

Poland and US agree deal for missile defense shield - by Harry de Quetteville

The agreement highlights how Russia's invasion of Georgia has prompted a swift reappraisal of the region's security and alliances. The US and Poland have been talking about the missile shield for a year but rushed to cement their alliance in the wake of this week's conflict. Donald Tusk, the prime minister, said that talks had been completed on a preliminary agreement and "technical questions remained". Washington plans to site a silo of 10 interceptor missiles at the Brdy army base in northern Poland to accompany a radar installation in the Czech Republic. The radar station, probably to be sited at Gorsko, has already been agreed by Prague and is awaiting parliamentary ratification.

Note EU-Digest: This should be a wake up call for the "old" EU member states that bringing in some of the former Soviet block countries into the EU at the insistence of US was not one of the more clever decisions they made and certainly did not enhance the political stability of the EU.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Poland, US

Russian combat aircraft could return to Cuba

Russian combat aircraft could return to Cuba in a bid to counter U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Central Europe, a Russian daily reported on Monday. Moscow has strongly opposed the possible deployment by the U.S. of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and an accompanying radar in the Czech Republic as a threat to its national security. Washington says the defenses are needed to deter a possible strike from Iran, or other "rogue" states. "While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will already be landing in Cuba," a high-placed military aviation source told the Izvestia newspaper.

Labels: Cuba, Missile Crises, Russia, USA

American missile defense plans hit a snag in Europe - by Richard Weitz

The debate between the United States and Russia over Washington's plans to deploy ballistic missile defenses in Europe is heating up again. Persistent differences with Poland over its conditions for accepting defensive interceptor missiles have led American officials to hint that they might consider Lithuania as an alternative deployment site. This shift appears aimed at pressuring Poland into showing greater flexibility in the negotiations, but the idea of the US establishing military bases in a country once part of the Soviet Union has raised the Kremlin's ire.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, US

Czech US Missile base: Keep U.S. dollars at home

Flood-ravaged Americans are struggling to preserve their heritage and recover from the June 2008 floods as Cedar Rapids was just awarded $2.7 million in federal aid relief for flood recovery. Multiply that devastation by 30 cities, towns and agricultural regions, and it is no wonder the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 300 points June 26, the largest drop since 1930. Compare that relatively small $2.7 million in federal aid to the $310 million originally set aside for a U.S. radar base project in the Czech Republic. It’s totally unjustified to fund unproven missile technologies and radar bases in foreign countries while U.S. roads, bridges, dams, levees and tunnels are in dire need of repair.

Labels: Czech Republic, Missile Crises

Russia Warns of Military Response if US Deploys Missile Shield

Russia reacted angrily to a deal inked Tuesday between the US and the Czech Republic on a missile defense shield. Moscow has said it may respond with military action. Russia warned late Tuesday that it would use a "military-technical" response to the US missile shield system which Washington wants to deploy in Poland and the Czech Republic. Moscow has said the missile shield would increase tensions in Europe and expressed fears it could be used to spy on Russia instead of, as Washington says, protecting Europe against missile attacks by so-called rogue states like Iran.

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia

Expert: Missiles threaten Europe more than US

Europe is exposed to the risk of being attacked by hostile missiles sooner than the USA, U.S. expert Jack Crouch, a former aide to President George Bush, said at a conference on the planned U.S. anti-missile shield in Central Europe in Prague Tuesday. Crouch said it was impossible to wait for the risk of the attacks to be quite real.

The United States plans to build a radar base in the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of Prague, along with a base for ten interceptor missiles in Poland as elements of the U.S. missile defence shield that is to protect the United States and a large part of Europe against missiles that states like Iran might launch.

Labels: Chech Republic, EU, Missile Crises

Russia, US considering shared anti-missile shield with Europe

Russia and the United States said in a joint declaration Sunday that they are considering a shared anti-missile defence system with Europe.

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia; US

Polish PM starts Moscow visit focusing on missile defense, visas

Poland's prime minister is meeting with his Russian counterpart as part of his one-day visit to Moscow set to focus on U.S. missile defense plans, visa regulations and Russia-EU ties. The visit is Donald Tusk's first to Russia since he came to power in November 2007, when he moved to bridge a gap in bilateral ties. Moscow has since agreed to lift a 2005 embargo on Polish meat, and Warsaw, in response, to withdraw its veto from cooperation pact talks between Russia and the European Union.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Poland, Russia

Poland signals a shift on U.S. missile shield - by Judy Dempsey

Signaling a tougher position in negotiations with the United States on a European anti-ballistic missile shield, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says the new Warsaw government is not prepared to accept U.S. plans to deploy part of the shield in Poland until all costs and risks are considered. "This is an American, not a Polish project," Sikorski said in an interview published in the weekend edition of the daily Gazeta Wyborcza. The previous Polish government had consented in principle to accept parts of the U.S. shield, but no formal agreement has been signed. Now Sikorski is saying that the terms under which the shield would be deployed were unclear and that the new government wanted the risks to be explained, the financial costs to be set out and clarification on how Poland's interests would be defended if the shield were deployed on its territory. "We feel no threat from Iran," Sikorski said, challenging the U.S view that some of the biggest threats facing the security of Europe and the United States are from "rogue states" in the Middle East, including Iran. Note EU-Digest: Poland's courageous stand against the placing of US missiles on its territory reflects the will of the majority of its population and that of the EU.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Poland, US

Polish premier to visit Russia in late Jan.

Poland's new prime minister, Donald Tusk, will visit Russia in late January, the Polish parliamentary speaker said on Tuesday. Speaking during a video link between Warsaw and Moscow, Stefan Niesiolowski said: "We were glad to hear today that our premier is to visit Moscow in late January, and that Russia's foreign minister will visit Warsaw before then." Ties between Poland and Russia began to improve after the new pro-business government came to power in Poland in October. Moscow and Warsaw have since agreed to tackle the two main points of contention in their relations. Moscow has announced plans to lift an embargo on Polish meat supplies, and Warsaw pledged to lift a moratorium on a new EU-Russia cooperation pact it imposed in response to the trade restrictions, which it considered political.

Note EU-Digest: A Kremlin aide said Tuesday that consultations would be held with Poland early next year over Washington's plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. "I am happy there will be discussions over the missile defense shield," the aide, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said at a news conference. He added that the talks would be held in Warsaw. Washington wants to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a shield it says is designed to protect Europe from what they call "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia believes that the shield is targeted against its missile arsenal and poses a threat to its national security.

Labels: Donald Tusk, EU Russia, Missile Crises, Poland

Russia Criticizes U.S. Missile Plans, Talks Up Alternatives - by NICK COLEMAN

Russian officials criticized the United States Dec. 5 for what one called an “unconstructive” approach to missile defense, while voicing hopes for cooperation on Moscow’s own missile proposals.
The criticism came after a U.S. intelligence report undercut U.S. allegations about Iran’s atomic goals, which have been a pillar of U.S. arguments for building new missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland.At a news conference, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained that Washington had gone back on an offer to allow full-time Russian monitors to be based at the Czech and Polish sites. Lavrov said Russia was “disappointed at how ideas that appeared to be moving in a reasonable direction turned out on paper.” Interviewed by the Interfax news agency, a defense ministry advisor, Ilshat Baichurin, said that the United States had demonstrated an “unconstructive approach on a matter concerning the security of millions of European residents.”

Labels: EU, Iran, Missile Crises, Russia; US

Administration Diverges on Missile Defense - by Michael Abramowitz and Walter Pincus

President Bush said yesterday that a missile defense system is urgently needed in Europe to guard against a possible attack on U.S. allies by Iran, while Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates suggested that the United States could delay activating such a system until there is "definitive proof" of such a threat. The seemingly contrasting messages came as the Bush administration grappled with continuing Russian protests over Washington's plan to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The Kremlin considers the program a potential threat to its own nuclear deterrent and has sought to play down any threat from Iran. Both Bush and Gates affirmed that they want to proceed with deployment of the system, including 10 antimissile interceptors in Poland and a radar-tracking facility in the Czech Republic projected for completion in 2012. Bush cited Iran's development of ballistic missiles that could strike Israel and Turkey, and said Tehran is also developing missiles that could strike NATO countries. "The need for missile defense in Europe is real, and I believe it's urgent," Bush said in his remarks at the National Defense University. "Today," he added, "we have no way to defend Europe against the emerging Iranian threat, so we must deploy a missile defense system there that can."

Note EU-Digest: How come Mr. Bush and Mr. Gates have to decide for us in Europe if we need a missile defense? Has Europe any say in this. All polls show that the majority of Europeans do not want it. Is anybody listening in Bruxelles?

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, US

Russia's president said he hoped the U.S. would not rush to finalize missile defense agreements with Europe until talks with Russia were over.

Russian and U.S. foreign and defense ministers are to meet on Friday to discuss U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic to counter possible threats from "rogue states" such as Iran or North Korea. "In the course of these complicated talks we are counting on you not to rush to fulfill your previous agreements with Central European states," Vladimir Putin said to Russian and U.S. ministers ahead of consultations. Russia's president said he hoped the U.S. would not rush to finalize missile defense agreements with Europe until talks with Russia were over. Russian and U.S. foreign and defense ministers are to meet on Friday to discuss U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic to counter possible threats from "rogue states" such as Iran or North Korea.

"In the course of these complicated talks we are counting on you not to rush to fulfill your previous agreements with Central European states," Vladimir Putin said to Russian and U.S. ministers ahead of consultations.

Labels: Missile Crises

Russians threaten to counter US shield - by Neil Buckley in Moscow and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Russia could site cruise missiles in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania, if the US goes ahead with plans for a missile defence shield in central Europe, Russia’s first deputy prime minister warned on Wednesday.

The televised comments by Sergei Ivanov – a possible successor to President Vladimir Putin – came two days after Mr Putin proposed using a new radar station being built in southern Russia in place of a planned US radar in the Czech Republic. The proposal was made during informal talks with US president George W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia, USA

A US Interceptor Missile

For the complete report from the ceskenoviny.cz click on this link

Czech town residents reject U.S. Brdy radar plan in referendum

"The inhabitants of Mirosov, a town situated near the western edge of the Brdy military training grounds, voted against the U.S.-planned construction of a military radar base in Brdy in a local referendum today.

The referendum did not focus directly on the radar which the USA wants to be part of its missile defense shield. Mirosov residents in the referendum asked the town councillors to do their utmost to prevent the radar's construction in Brdy, Mirosov Mayor Vlastimil Sykora said. A total of 51.51 percent of Mirosov's 1,786 inhabitants took part in the referendum. Out of them, 867 people said they want the councillors to struggle against the radar and 30 said they did not wish it.Most Czechs are opposed to the project, public opinion polls have repeatedly shown. According to the latest poll, 64 percent of Czechs are against the plan.

The USA wants to place a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and ten missile interceptors in Poland. The US says the base is meant as defense against possible missile attacks from countries such as Iran and North Korea."

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, the Czech Republic, USA

Czech Villagers Reject U.S. 'Star Wars' Facility Planned For Their 'Backyard

The Pentagon has selected Brdy in the Czech Republic as the nerve center for the European platform of its contentious missile defense program, planning to site a radar station on one of the hills here which would be capable of throwing a very fine beam thousands of miles into space to detect and track small objects outside the Earth's atmosphere. Should one of those small objects be an Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile, so the theory goes, the Brdy radar will guide one or more of the 10 interceptor missiles, to be installed in Poland, which will fly into space to "kill" the enemy rocket before any harm is done.

"It's nonsense," said Vaclav Konicek, a Czech army captain for 21 years, who now works as a security guard for a Volkswagen dealer. "Anyone round here who is sane is against this."

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, the Czech Republic, USA

"Poland strikes again" - wants bilateral deal with U.S. on missile shield say minister of defence

Poland's Defense Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said Wednesday in Warsaw that his country wants to conclude an agreement with the United States on the deployment of missile interceptors in the eastern European country. Szczyglo stressed that Poland wants to have good relations with the United States and wants the deal to be signed between Poland and the United States, and not within NATO.

Labels: Missile Crises, Poland

Iran: Larijani: US claim, 'Joke of the Year'

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has downplayed US claim that its missile shield is intended to safeguard Europe against Iranian missiles. "It's the joke of the year since Iranian missile cannot reach Europe," IRNA quoted Larijani as saying. "These days, the Americans tell a lot of jokes. Iranian missiles are incapable of reaching Europe and it is very unlikely that they (the Americans) do not know this," Larijani who is also secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said late Sunday. He reiterated that Europe is Iran's biggest commercial partner and there is not the slightest evidence to support the US claim.

Labels: EU, Iran, Missile Crises

Putin warns on U.S. missiles in Europe - by NICOLE WINFIELD

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe would force Moscow to target its weapons against Europe. The threat, in an interview published Sunday in Italy's Corriere della Sera and other foreign media, marked one of Putin's most strident statements to date against the U.S. plans and came just days before he is to join President Bush and other leaders at a Group of Eight summit in Germany.

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia, USA

Poland's defence minister: no shield if U.S. conditions unacceptable

Poland will not allow the United States to install an anti-missile shield on its territory if it does not agree with the conditions the U.S. administration places on its construction, Polish Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said on Friday. Polish negotiators at the ongoing shield talks in Prague voiced " disappointment" with the U.S. offer, particularly with suggestions that Poland should participate in the installation costs, Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported. Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Friday that he "had no knowledge" of Poland participating in the shield costs. Note EU-Digest: "The US will soon come to understand what the EU already knows - Poland's concept of a partnership is to "take all and give nothing".

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Poland

Russian Missile

For the complete report from the Kommersant Moscow click on this link

Russia:Some Nuclear Heavy Lifting

Yesterday the Russian military announced the first successful test of the new RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile with multiple independently-targetable detachable warheads. The addition of this missile to Russia's arsenal could put the country back on an equal strategic footing with the United States, which is slated to have no fewer than 2,200 nuclear warheads in its arsenal by 2012. Moscow claims that the maneuverable warheads on the RS-24 will be capable of confounding the American missile defense system.

Along with gaining equal ground with Washington, Moscow is counting on its new rockets to ensure that a Russian attack could successfully penetrate the US missile defense system, no matter how complex it becomes. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov declared yesterday that the RS-24 missile "is able to overcome any existing or, possibly, future missile defense system." Mr. Safranchuk of the WSI believes that the successful test of the RS-24 "can be regarded as one of the elements of the asymmetric response promised by Vladimir Putin after the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002."

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia, USA

George Bush's estate at Walker Point, in Kennebunkport, Maine

For the complete report from the Buffalonews/LA Times click on this link

Bush and Putin to talk in Maine July 1 - 2 - by Maura Reynolds

In an effort to warm the deepening chill in U.S.-Russian relations, President Bush will host Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in July at his family’s vacation compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. The two men say they have a friendly relationship, even as serious strains have developed between the two countries over NATO’s plans to install missile defense systems in former Soviet bloc countries, over the status of Kosovo, and other issues. U.S. officials said Wednesday the aim of the Kennebunkport visit, set for July 1-2, is to ease tensions, starting at the top. The presence of the president’s father, the first President George Bush, during the visit was also seen as a way to personalize the encounter and evoke a more optimistic period in U.S.-Russian relations.

Labels: Bush, Missile Crises, Putin, Russia, US

Putin likens U.S. foreign policy to that of Third Reich - Andrew E.Kramer

President Vladimir Putin of Russia obliquely compared the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich in a speech Wednesday commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, in an apparent escalation of anti-American rhetoric within the Russian government.

Some political analysts see the new tone as a return to Cold War-style rhetoric by a country emboldened by petroleum wealth. But Russians say the sharper edge is a reflection of frustration that Russia's views, particularly its opposition to NATO expansion, have been ignored in the West.

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia, USA

Rocket forces will adequately respond if U.S. NMD deployed in Europe - says Russian commander

Should the American missile defense system be deployed in Europe, the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces will take adequate measures, Strategic Rocket Forces Commander Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov told reporters on Monday.

"If the United States finally makes the decision, despite serious resistance from the European population to the deployment of missile defense, the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces could take adequate measures to deal with the threats to Russia that might ensue," Solovtsov said.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia

Mismanaging missile defence

Missile defence has suddenly emerged as a divisive issue in Europe. Rather than enhancing European security, the Bush administration's plan to deploy elements of a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic threatens to increase strains with Russia and deepen divisions with America's European allies, particularly those in eastern Europe, where support for US polices has been strongest.The growing opposition to the US missile defence deployment is rooted in the way in which America has managed - or rather mismanaged - the presentation of its deployment plans.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, US

Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Yury Baluyevsky has warned Europeans that they will have to pay a heavy price for the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Europe.

"In my opinion, today not only the military, but also the majority of Europeans understand that they are becoming hostages in a game the United States is playing, when the bets are made overseas and the Europeans will have to pay," the general said at a briefing on Tuesday in Moscow.

Labels: Europe, Missile Crises

Council of Europe leader says U.S. anti-missile shield could damage European unity

"The proposals to base part of the U.S. anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic risk creating new tensions," Dutch Senator Rene van der Linden said in a speech to the human rights watchdog's Parliamentary Assembly, which he chairs. "We need reconciliation, not confrontation — that is the historical lesson of the Cold War and the 50 years' success of the EU."

Labels: Council of Europe, European Unity, Missile Crises

U.S. seeks control of Europe through missile shield - Gorbachev

Deployment of U.S. missile-defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic is an attempt by the U.S. to control Europe, the former Soviet president said Thursday.

"It is all about influence and domination in Europe," Mikhail Gorbachev said. "I believe it is wrong that America did not even bother to consult its NATO allies." Asked how Russia could respond to these plans, he only said: "Time will show."

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, USA

Russia ready for “asymmetrical” response to US NMD in Europe

Russia will have to find an “asymmetrical” response to maintain strategic stability if U.S. missile defence elements are deployed in Czech Republic and Poland, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Andrei Kokoshin said.

“Representatives of the Russian top military command have rightfully pointed out that the deployment of a radar station in the Czech Republic will increase the surveillance of strategic deterrence forces in northern Russia, where a considerable part of submarines with ballistic missiles are stationed,” Kokoshin said in an interview with the military daily Krasnaya Zvezda published on Saturday."

Note EU-Digest: One can only wonder what the US would do if Russia placed a missile and radar defence network on the US-Mexican or Canadian-US border under the same pretext?

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, US

Duma statement on US missile defense planned in Europe

Members of the Russian State Duma unanimously adopted a statement on Friday cautioning that plans to deploy elements of the U.S. global missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland may cause a new split in Europe and provoke another round of an arms race.

Unilateral decisions related to the deployment of such elements in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Poland "are pointless from the point of view of countering potential or imaginary threats from a number of states in the Middle East and the Far East, have already begun provoking a new split in Europe and prompting another round of an arms race," the statement says.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic

Czech Premier defends USA missile system decision - "Czech decission not compatible with the EU’s general interest in security"

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek last Friday defended his country’s decision to begin talks with the United States about building part of its controversial missile defence system on Czech soil. “The Czech Republic has the right to sign a bilateral agreement on the system,” MTI news agency reported him as saying after meeting Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány.

The decision has drawn criticism from European Union foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana, who last Thursday said that “sovereignty has to be made compatible with the EU’s general interest in security.”Russia is also unhappy about the system, and has warned it could spark a Cold War-style arms race. The US claims the system is intended to defend against what they call "a missile threat from Iran". - A claim similar to one 4 years ago about the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Labels: Eastern Europe, Missile Crises, Russia, Solana, the Czech Republic, US

EU's Solana: Participation in U.S. missile defense shield must not harm EU security

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday that any possible decision by EU nations to participate in the proposed U.S. anti-missile shield must not threaten the EU's security. Solana said that placing components of a U.S. missile defense system on EU soil could "affect our relations with third countries, namely Russia."

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, US

Fight for influence in Europe's heart underlies base row

Struggle for influence in Central Europe is in the core of the disputes over U.S. anti-missile bases in the Czech Republic and Poland, Pavel Paral writes in Mlada fronta Dnes today.

Paral writes that the post-communist central European countries want to play a greater role in the discussion on the future, while Germany, the United States' major ally in Europe is for various reasons looking for ways to get to Russia which Russian President Vladimir Putin is quite adroitly making use of.

He says that relations with Russia are in the centre of the EU leading countries' attention. He mentions public opinion polls that International Herald Tribune daily released recently. It ensues from them that a large part of Europeans think that not only Turkey, but also Russia will be EU members in 50 years.

Labels: EU, Integration, Missile Crises, Russia, US

In the new Europe, unity is the best defense

The American plan to install the forward edge of its anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic has raised memories of the great Cold War struggle over Washington's decision to deploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

The shield, moreover, is really intended largely as a defense of the United States by the United States and so only deepens the perception among many Europeans of American arrogrance and selfishness. The Bush administration has made it worse by not doing more to consult either its long time allies in NATO or its former rival Russia.

But as ever, Europe has confused the situation further by its inability to agree on any position, or speak with a single or even a few voices. Part of the problem apparently is that "Old Europe" resents "New Europe's" desire to make the Americans happy.

Europe needs to know that it's not being used as a pawn in some larger chess game between Washington and Iran. Europe should remind President George W. Bush of his long ago offer to bring the Russians into a missile defense effort. The Cold War is over, but the best defense is still a common defense.

Comment EU-Digest: "The majority of the EU members should make clear to the new Eastern European member states and Great Britain that democracy in the EU means majority, not minority rule. Maybe its time to get rid of the rotten apples before the whole EU basket gets infected."

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Political, USA

Labels: Missile Crises

Putin's aide calls for intensified Russia-EU dialogue

Russia and the European Union should start a more active dialogue on contentious issues to avoid creating a dividing line on the continent, a Russian presidential aide said Friday. "We have been conducting an insufficiently intensive dialogue on security issues in Europe on the whole, and on U.S. plans to deploy its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic in particular," Vladimir Putin's special envoy on relations with the EU, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said at a French university.

Yastrzhembsky said he wishes the EU would play a more significant role on the international scene. Russia's foreign minister said earlier Friday that U.S. plans to deploy air defense missiles in Europe could negatively affect Russia's relations with NATO if implemented unilaterally without Russia's involvement or any consideration of collective interests.

Labels: Eastern Europe, Missile Crises, Russia, USA

U.S. Defense Plan Could 'split Europe'

A U.S. plan to deploy a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland could "split Europe," a political scientist said Monday. "My personal opinion is that consultations should have been conducted with Russia, and, first of all, within NATO itself. This did not happen. The German side also felt it had not been well informed on the issue," said Alexander Rahr, the director of the Russia/Commonwealth of Independent States program and a member of Germany's Council of Foreign Relations, RIA Novosti reported.

The United States has said it plans to place a radar installation in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland by 2012 as a defense against potential attacks from Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin told a German security conference in February that the defense system could trigger a new arms race and accused the United States of ignoring international law.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Political, Russia, US

More than half of Poles oppose U.S. missile defense base

WARSAW (AP) - Fifty-one percent of Poles oppose U.S. plans to build a missile defense base in Poland, according to a poll released Monday. Washington is hoping to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic, a plan that has infuriated Russia and sparked concerns throughout Europe.

Though the Polish government has said it is willing to enter negotiations with the United States, the poll showed 23 percent of Poles "definitely" do not want the base and 28 percent prefer not to have it.Thirty percent support hosting the base, with 8 percent of those saying they were "definitely" for it. The poll was carried out March 9-11 by the Gfk Polonia center and published in the Rzeczpospolita daily. It questioned 984 adults and gave a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Labels: Europe, Missile Crises

US missile shield needs more than bilateral talks, says Germany - by Louis Charbonneau

Amid rising tension surrounding a planned US missile shield in Europe, a top German official urged parties to avoid any bilateral decisions, especially when the decision will have consequences for other European states. Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler said on radio that Chancellor Angela Merkel would make this point during her two-day visit to Poland, which starts today.

“She will argue something very important, that this can’t be done on a bilateral basis when the decisions will have consequences for other European states,” Erler said.

Labels: Missile Crises

NATO missiles in East Europe – for or against the EU? - by Kai Ehlers

Astonishing events are currently being acted out on the stage of global politics. The USA wants to deploy new anti-ballistic missiles in Poland, accompanied by a radar guidance system in the Czech Republic, on the professed basis of protecting the European Union and itself against attacks by Iran and North Korea. The equipment should be operational from 2011. Russia feels threatened. There are faraway rumblings coming from China. The Czech and Polish governments are prepared to give their approval, although surveys indicate that the majority of the population in both countries opposes the deployment.

The decisive question at this stage is not whether there is a new ‘Cold War’. Where does Europe stand today in the context of the new world powers? Is it ready to continue to be a ‘bridgehead’ for the maintenance of the US claim to global dominance? Or will it emancipate itself together with Latin America, Russia, India and China to create a cultural order corresponding to the new evolved global power relations?

Labels: Missile Crises

Russia's ambassador to NATO: U.S. ignoring Russia and even European allies while devising NMD

The United States is building a national missile defense system without consultations with partners and even allies, presenting all with an accomplished fact, Russia's ambassador to NATO Konstantin Totsky said in an interview with Interfax and the newspaper Noviye Izvestia. "I cannot understand our partners in the Russia-NATO Council," Totsky said.
"Washington argues," he said, "that all of these interceptor missiles and radars in Eastern Europe are supposedly intended to defend the allies. But the allies are not even being asked. The American project does not need to be approved by the NATO Council and the European ambassadors are telling me that this supposedly refers to bilateral relations between Washington and Warsaw, Washington and Prague and Washington and Moscow, and that NATO is not at all involved."

Concerning the Russian approach to the issue, the diplomat said that, Russia "has been proposing cooperation which has been rejected." "Since Iranian missiles and the nuclear weapons of the 'rogue states' rank among our common threats, let us gather together and assess them, and let us build an antimissile system jointly. No, we'll not get together, we are told. We'll build it first, they say, and then we'll invite you," Totsky said.

Labels: Missile Crises

Missile Crises: Opposition to U.S. missile system grows in Europe

The planned U.S. anti-missile system in Eastern Europe is facing growing opposition from politicians and the public in the European Union. Ahead of this week's summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said the system, which foresees ten bunker-protected missiles to be stationed in Poland and a radar unit in the Czech Republic to fend off nuclear warheads from North Korea and Iran, destabilized the continent.

"We will have no stability in Europe if we corner the Russians," he said, according to German online daily Netzeitung. In the Czech Republic, opposition to the system is growing. Roughly seven of ten Czechs are against participating in the defense system, and 80 percent feel a referendum should be the basis of the country's decision whether or not to do so.

Labels: Missile Crises