VS verdedigt Polen en Tsjechië aangaande hun besluit om aan het raketschild mee te werken (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Thursday (5 March) strongly defended the planned US missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic as being directed against real threats from Iran, not Russia, with whom NATO foreign ministers agreed to resume talks.
"The Czech Republic and Poland in our view have been very visionary and looking over the horizon of what we have to be prepared for if we are not successful in preventing the acquisition and proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction," Ms Clinton said at a press conference after her first meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
She maintained, as the previous Bush administration did, that the shield was not aimed against Russia - as Moscow has claimed - but threats coming from Iran and potentially from terrorist networks. The shield would have see a radar installed in the Czech Republic and interceptors missiles in Poland.
"Our task is to dissuade them [Iran], deter them, prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon which given the range of the missiles they currently have access to threatens Europe and Arab neighbours in the Gulf, not the United States," Ms Clinton said.
Russia has fiercely opposed these plans, with President Dmitri Medvedev even threatening to deploy ballistic missiles in the Russian EU exclave of Kaliningrad.
"We have long offered Russia the opportunity to work with us on missile defence, which is a very important tool in our defensive arsenal, in the future. Unfortunately there is a great deal of proliferation of weapons of all kinds. Just as we had a defensive posture against the old Soviet Union in the 20th century we must now have a defensive posture against the new threats of the 21 century," Ms Clinton argued.
"We see this in a broader perspective than is usually prescribed," she pointed out, alluding to the letter that was sent by President Obama i to his Russian counterpart in which he said that the US might give up the missile defence shield in Europe if Russia helps to deter Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
"We'll also raise with Russia their continuing discussions with Iran about selling longer range missiles, which we think are a threat to Russia, as well as to Europe and neighbours in region," she added.
The issue of missile defence is likely to come up at talks between Ms Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, scheduled in Geneva later on Friday.
Russia too important to ignore
Discussions in Geneva are likely to be friendly, after Ms Clinton managed to secure the resumption of Russia-NATO relations, suspended after the Georgian war last August. Her endeavour was more complicated than expected, with Lithuanian foreign minister Vygaudas Usackas being very "tenacious" in opposing the move – as French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner put it.
"I think it is simply premature to open the formal dialogue. I think we have to use this time before the summit and encourage Russia to be more cooperative on these questions," Mr Usackas said ahead of the meeting.
His objections were based on the fact that Moscow has not fully complied with the ceasefire agreements and has recognised the independence of Georgia's separatist regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In the end, ministers agreed to resume the NATO-Russia council, but only after the alliance's anniversary summit on 2 April.
"Russia is an important player, a global player, and that means that not talking to them is not an option," NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer i told a news conference.
Georgia and Ukraine's NATO bids were still strongly supported by Washington, Ms Clinton added – something set to rankle Russia.
Finnish support for Russia
Non-NATO member Finland was also invited to meet Ms Clinton at a transatlantic dinner on Wednesday night in Brussels. Finnish foreign minister Alexander Stubb told EUobserver in a phone interview on Thursday that his country supported stronger relations with Russia, because of the "window of opportunity" created by the financial crisis.
"The so-called Russian economic miracle which lasted from 2000-2008 and was very closely linked to the price of raw materials is now over and Russia will be probably hit by the crisis more than anyone in the EU or the US," he said.
Mr Stubb identified a chance to alter relations with Russia due to a change in internal politics, with "some moderate social unrests" taking place in Russia at the moment. "The choice is between the liberal and the authoritarian line," he said. The third change was in Russian foreign policy, where the tone was now also different.
"We must press the reset button and hope the Russians will press the reset button as well," he said.
However, he stressed that co-operation with Russia should always be conditional and no blank cheques should be given to Moscow. "Spheres of influence are old school. History shows that interdependence has a tendency to tone down spheres of influence," Mr Stubb concluded.