U.S. missile plan triggers NATO tensions

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05130027.htm


U.S. missile plan triggers NATO tensions


BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - A U.S. plan to base a missile defence system in eastern Europe triggered friction among NATO allies on Monday as the Czech Republic rejected criticism of talks with Washington over its possible participation.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek defended his country's deliberations on hosting the radar component of such a shield after Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn attacked the U.S. plan as threatening to cause new tensions with Russia.

"As for the 18 European Union member states who host U.S. military bases, it is not up to them to comment on the existence of such a presence in the Czech Republic," Topolanek told reporters after talks at NATO headquarters.

Along with the Czech-based radar system, the United States also wants to site a missile battery in Poland as part of a shield that would shoot down missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.