Anger, dismay in Europe as Obama set to 'scrap missile shield'
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DNA Web Team
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Jan Fischer, the Czech PM, said that president Barack Obama had personally informed him that the US was shelving plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic.
The US is in the final stages of a plan to 'scrap missile defence shield' in Eastern Europe, fuelling anger and dismay in the continent where it had been seen as an guarantee of American support for the former satellite states of the former USSR, a news report said today.
Jan Fischer, the Czech prime minister, said that president Barack Obama had personally informed him that the United States was shelving plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic and site interceptor rockets in Poland.
"President Barack Obama called me shortly after midnight to tell me his government was giving up its intention to build a radar base on Czech soil," Fischer was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper today.
"The Czech Republic has acknowledged this decision," he told reporters in Prague.
A formal announcement on the move may be announced as early as today with Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, scheduling a news briefing in Washington, the report in the British daily said.
The move means a major reversal from the policies of former US president George Bush, who pushed aggressively for the project to provide an essential defence against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea.
Above all, the decision to shelve the plan will ease tensions with Russia - which saw it as threat to its own ballistic missile defences - but prompted dismay in Eastern and Central Europe, where the shield had been seen as an effective guarantee of US support against its former imperial master Soviet Union.
"This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence," said Mirek Topolanek, the former Czech prime minister. "It puts us in a position where we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that’s a certain threat."
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US is to shelve the plan, which was first mooted by the Bush administration and has been a source of friction with Russia ever since. It said the decision follows a 60-day review ordered by the US president.
According to the report, the decision would be based on a determination that Iran's long-range missile programme has not progressed as rapidly as previously thought, thus reducing the threat posed to the continental United States and major European capitals.
In Poland, a deputy foreign minister responsible for the project said that there were "serious chances" that the United States would not deploy the missile defence shield.
Russia's foreign ministry said that it welcomed the report. "Such a development would be in line with the interests of our relations with the United States," a spokesman said.
The row over the missile defence plan had soured US-Russian relations, with Kremlin seeing it as a threat to its national security because they could neutralise Moscow's nuclear deterrent. Washington insisted the plan was not directed against Russia but "rouge states" such as Iran and North Korea.
Jan Fischer, the Czech prime minister, said that president Barack Obama had personally informed him that the United States was shelving plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic and site interceptor rockets in Poland.
"President Barack Obama called me shortly after midnight to tell me his government was giving up its intention to build a radar base on Czech soil," Fischer was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper today.
"The Czech Republic has acknowledged this decision," he told reporters in Prague.
A formal announcement on the move may be announced as early as today with Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, scheduling a news briefing in Washington, the report in the British daily said.
The move means a major reversal from the policies of former US president George Bush, who pushed aggressively for the project to provide an essential defence against missile attacks from Iran and North Korea.
Above all, the decision to shelve the plan will ease tensions with Russia - which saw it as threat to its own ballistic missile defences - but prompted dismay in Eastern and Central Europe, where the shield had been seen as an effective guarantee of US support against its former imperial master Soviet Union.
"This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence," said Mirek Topolanek, the former Czech prime minister. "It puts us in a position where we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that’s a certain threat."
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US is to shelve the plan, which was first mooted by the Bush administration and has been a source of friction with Russia ever since. It said the decision follows a 60-day review ordered by the US president.
According to the report, the decision would be based on a determination that Iran's long-range missile programme has not progressed as rapidly as previously thought, thus reducing the threat posed to the continental United States and major European capitals.
In Poland, a deputy foreign minister responsible for the project said that there were "serious chances" that the United States would not deploy the missile defence shield.
Russia's foreign ministry said that it welcomed the report. "Such a development would be in line with the interests of our relations with the United States," a spokesman said.
The row over the missile defence plan had soured US-Russian relations, with Kremlin seeing it as a threat to its national security because they could neutralise Moscow's nuclear deterrent. Washington insisted the plan was not directed against Russia but "rouge states" such as Iran and North Korea.