Missile shield in Europe could lead to cold war - Slovak ex-premier
20/02/2007 13:55 MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) - The deployment of elements of the U.S. missile defense system in Central Europe could lead to a deterioration in relations between Russia and NATO, a former prime minister of Slovakia said Tuesday.
Governments of Poland and the Czech Republic reaffirmed Monday their readiness to allow the United States to base elements of its missile shield on their territory.
"The deployment of [missile] bases in the Czech Republic and Poland means that NATO military installations will move closer to the borders with Russia in violation of a verbal promise made by the United States to [ex-Soviet president] Gorbachev at talks ending the "cold war," Jan Carnogursky said.
"These actions could lead to a new "cold war," the Slovak politician said.
Washington plans to install a radar system in the Czech Republic and to deploy missile defense systems in Poland to counter the alleged ballistic missile threat from Iran and North Korea.
But Carnogursky questioned the real purpose of the U.S. plans in Central Europe by saying they will never be transparent.
"When the U.S. missile defense bases start operating in the Czech Republic and Poland nobody except the Americans will know what purpose they are supposed to serve," he said, adding that the move will destroy the balance of power in the region.
Moscow strongly opposes the deployment of a missile shield in its former backyard in Central Europe, describing the plans as a threat to Russian national security.
Army General Yury Baluyevsky, the chief of the Russian General Staff, voiced February 15 a strong warning to the U.S. regarding its missile shield plans by announcing a possibility of Russia unilaterally pulling out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
The INF treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles). By the treaty's deadline of June 1, 1991, a total of 2,692 such weapons had been destroyed, 846 by the U.S. and 1,846 by the Soviet Union.
Commander in Chief of Russia's strategic missile forces (SMF) Nikolai Solovtsov echoed Baluyevsky's remarks by saying that the SMF will be able to track down elements of the U.S. missile defense system if they are eventually deployed in Central Europe.
"If the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic make such a decision, the Strategic Missile Forces will be able to target these systems," Solovtsov said Monday.
He also said Russia possessed the technology and the capability to resume production of intermediate- and short-range missiles in the near future if the need arises.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
