Russia and Germany have welcomed a US decision not to build missile shield bases in Eastern Europe, but the move has caused bitterness in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a TV address that the US pull-back will help in upcoming talks on nuclear disarmament: "The statement made in Washington today shows that quite good conditions are evolving for such work." Russia's Dmitry Medvedev said the shift will help in nuclear disarmament talks Russia's ambassador to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, described it in more colourful terms. "It's like having a decomposing corpse in your flat and then the mortician comes and takes it away," he said in UK daily The Guardian. "This means we're getting rid of one of those niggling problems which prevented us from doing the real work."
Russia and Germany have welcomed a US decision not to build missile shield bases in Eastern Europe, but the move has caused bitterness in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a TV address that the US pull-back will help in upcoming talks on nuclear disarmament: "The statement made in Washington today shows that quite good conditions are evolving for such work."
Russia's Dmitry Medvedev said the shift will help in nuclear disarmament talks
Russia's ambassador to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, described it in more colourful terms.
"It's like having a decomposing corpse in your flat and then the mortician comes and takes it away," he said in UK daily The Guardian. "This means we're getting rid of one of those niggling problems which prevented us from doing the real work."
BERLIN -- After watching President Obama's pragmatic maneuvering over missile defense, staunch Eastern European allies like Poland and the Czech Republic appeared likely to become more realistic and less idealistic about United States foreign policy in the future, not to mention a lot less likely to fall in line behind the United StatesThe decision to suspend plans for placing missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic did not come as a tremendous surprise after months of signals from Washington. But for politicians who backed the American plan, it was a disappointment and even an embarrassment."It's a U-turn in the U.S. policy," said Alexandr Vondra, the former Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs and a strong supporter of the missile-defense system. "It must not undermine security guarantees in central and Eastern Europe," Mr. Vondra said. "Otherwise the United States may have a problem in generating support for out-of-area missions in this region."
The decision to suspend plans for placing missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic did not come as a tremendous surprise after months of signals from Washington. But for politicians who backed the American plan, it was a disappointment and even an embarrassment.
"It's a U-turn in the U.S. policy," said Alexandr Vondra, the former Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs and a strong supporter of the missile-defense system.
"It must not undermine security guarantees in central and Eastern Europe," Mr. Vondra said. "Otherwise the United States may have a problem in generating support for out-of-area missions in this region."
Scrapping the US missile shield project has more to do with Iran than just its perceived lack of current threat, say experts. Removing the barrier to dialogue with Russia could give the US a powerful ally against Tehran. President Barack Obama is preparing to scrap the previous US administration's plans to build a missile defense shield in Europe, one of George W. Bush's most controversial legacies. Citing officials familiar with the plan, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Obama administration's information on the current scale and progress of Iran's missile development program is slower and less widespread than first thought. The threat from Iranian nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching the United States over Europe was one of the main justifications for the shield.
President Barack Obama is preparing to scrap the previous US administration's plans to build a missile defense shield in Europe, one of George W. Bush's most controversial legacies.
Citing officials familiar with the plan, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Obama administration's information on the current scale and progress of Iran's missile development program is slower and less widespread than first thought.
The threat from Iranian nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching the United States over Europe was one of the main justifications for the shield.
The long-range missiles of the US defence shield might not be heading for Polish soil, but that does not necessarily mean there will not be any American firepower there. The United States has confirmed plans to deploy new anti-missile systems targeting short and medium range weapons in 2015. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "I wouldn't call today's events Poland's failure. Being in this part of the world we will always have to work on security. The day will never come when someone will be able to say we are 100 per cent safe, but thankfully nobody can say today that we are in a worse position than yesterday."
The long-range missiles of the US defence shield might not be heading for Polish soil, but that does not necessarily mean there will not be any American firepower there. The United States has confirmed plans to deploy new anti-missile systems targeting short and medium range weapons in 2015.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "I wouldn't call today's events Poland's failure. Being in this part of the world we will always have to work on security.
The day will never come when someone will be able to say we are 100 per cent safe, but thankfully nobody can say today that we are in a worse position than yesterday."
