DATE=12/2/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NATO DEFENSE MINISTERS (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256769
BYLINE=RON PEMSTEIN
DATELINE=BRUSSELS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: NATO Defense Ministers have discussed plans to
build up European defense as well as the U-S proposal
for a limited ballistic missile defense. V-O-A
Correspondent Ron Pemstein at NATO headquarters
reports U-S Defense Secretary William Cohen faced
questions from the allies about what the Clinton
Administration has in mind.
TEXT: If the United States decides to go ahead with a
limited missile defense, it will need support from
NATO allies such as Britain and Denmark that will have
to upgrade their radars to track the rogue missiles
that might be fired.
U-S Secretary of Defense William Cohen says such
questions are premature until the United States
decides next year whether it wants to build the
limited missile defense.
The European allies want to be consulted about the U-S
talks with the Russians about missile defense and they
confronted the Defense Secretary with a variety of
questions.
/// COHEN ACT ///
They have raised issues about their deterrent,
issues of de-coupling - also about whether this
would be something that they might be interested
in themselves and this is some kind of
technology that perhaps the European nations
might be interested in as well. So we covered
the full panoply of issues. The United States
would have to have the support of our allies for
an effective system. We believe it is important
that we discuss the issue with them about the
nature of the threat.
/// END ACT ///
The United States maintains that countries such as
North Korea and Iran could threaten Europe as well as
U-S territory with long-range missiles. At the same
time, the limited missile defense system is not
envisioned to protect U-S territory against thousands
of Russian missiles.
/// COHEN ACT ///
This is something of a very limited nature. It
is designed to deal with rogue states. It is
not directed against the Russians or others, and
it would not undercut the Russian strategic
deterrent and this is something that we have to
make very clear. The Russians have many
thousands of nuclear weapons which we are trying
to reduce in START-Two and hopefully going on to
START-Three. And so this in no way would
undercut that strategic deterrent capability
they have and that really in essence is what I
have tried to lay out for the members today.
/// END ACT ///
Also at the meeting, NATO's secretary general, George
Robertson, criticized the European allies for not
contributing enough to their own defense in the
future.
/// ROBERTSON ACT ///
We need troops which are trained, equipped, and
ready for actual use, not just forces which
exist on paper alone. These troops have to be
mobile, sustainable, and survivable, and backed
up by the best command and control and
intelligence.
/// END ACT ///
The European allies had trouble finding enough troops
to go to Kosovo for peacekeeping. European leaders
will decide next week to form a 50-thousand to 60-
thousand soldier rapid reaction force. NATO supports
the concept, noting that this force would comprise
only two percent of the one-point-eight-million
soldiers already in European armies.(Signed)
NEB/RDP/JWH/JP
02-Dec-1999 14:52 PM EDT (02-Dec-1999 1952 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
