http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4295309.ece
=46rom The Times
July 9, 2008
Russia threatens military response to US missile defence deal
David Charter, Europe Correspondent
Russia threatened to retaliate by military means after a deal with the
Czech Republic brought the US missile defence system in Europe a step
closer.
The threat followed quickly on from the announcement that Condoleezza
Rice signed a formal agreement with the Czech Republic to host the
radar for the controversial project.
Moscow argues that the missile ****eld would severely undermine the
balance of European security and regards the proposed missile ****eld
based in two former Communist countries as a hostile move.
=93We will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with military-
technical methods,=94 the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry did not detail what its response might entail.
Dr Rice, the US Secretary of State, hailed the agreement as a step
forward for international security.
After 14 months of negotiations, the US is struggling to clinch
agreement with its other proposed partner - Poland - where it hopes to
locate the interceptor missiles designed to shoot down any incoming
rockets.
Wa****ngton insists that the system will not be targeted at Russia, but
will act as a safeguard for Europe against regimes such as Iran. The
plan was endorsed by Nato in April.
"This missile defence agreement is significant as a building block not
just for the security of the United States and the Czech Republic, but
also for the security of Nato and the security of the international
community as a whole," Dr Rice said. "Ballistic missile proliferation
is not an imaginary threat."
A change of government in Poland last November saw the country
introduce a range of demands including US investment in its air
defences in return for siting the missiles.
Poland's tough negotiating position has even led to a threat from the
Pentagon to find an alternative site in the Baltic state of Lithuania.
"There are remaining issues, but the United States has made a very
generous offer [to the Poles]," said Dr Rice.
A year ago at the G8 in Germany, President Vladimir Putin of Russia
surprised the US by suggesting that the radar could be hosted in
Azerbaijan so that the technology could be shared.
The signing ceremony seemed to bury that idea. Addressing Russian
anxiety about the anti-missile system in what used to be its backyard,
Ms Rice added: "We want the system to be transparent to the Russians."
Mirek Topolanek, the Czech Prime Minister, said that the deal was an
example of "our joint desire to protect the free world" and said his
country could not afford to miss out as it had done after the Second
World War, when it fell under Soviet influence.
"We were in the past in a similar situation and then we failed. We did
not accept the Marshall Plan...we should not allow a second error of
this kind," he said.
In Prague, where polls consistently show a majority of Czechs opposed
to hosting the US radar, protestors from Greenpeace unrolled a large
banner proclaiming "Do not make a target of us."
After Prague, Dr Rice will visit Bulgaria and Georgia where she will
stress US sup****t for Tblisi's application for Nato member****p,
another annoyance for Russia.
She will also appeal for calm between Moscow and Tblisi over the
separatist Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"We have said both Georgia and Russia need to avoid provocative
behaviour but frankly some of the things the Russians did over the
last couple of months added to tension in the region," Dr Rice said.
"Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one. I
want to make very clear that the US commitment to Georgia's
territorial integrity is strong."
The radar agreement still has to pass through the Czech parliament
where the government only has a slim majority.
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