VS laten raketschild in Polen en Tsjechië vallen, zegt lobbyist (en)
The Barack Obama administration 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 bases 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 defence 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."
President Obama ordered a review of the missile shield plan shortly after coming into office this year.
He unveiled his vision for a nuclear weapons-free world at a major foreign policy speech in Prague in April, while sounding a note of scepticism over the value of the shield.
"As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defence system that is cost effective and proven," he said.
The multi-billion dollar project was to install 10 interceptor missiles at a facility in Poland and a radar base in the Czech republic. It also envisaged placing US patriot missiles in Poland.
Russia said the Bush-era idea was aimed at degrading its nuclear capability and amounted to a new Cold War.
Many ordinary people in the Czech republic also voted against the shield in opinion polls. But the Polish and Czech centre-right political elite saw it as US gold-plating of anti-Russian security guarantees offered by Nato.
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