Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Merkel: NATO should defuse missile tension

|
|
 
  
Published: March. 6, 2007 at 8:28 AM

MOSCOW, March 6 (UPI) -- German Chancellor and rotating EU President Angela Merkel has called on NATO to defuse growing Russian tension about U.S. missile shields in Europe.

Merkel made the remarks to the Financial Times Monday after the head of Russia's strategic bomber force said Russian bombers could easily knock out the installations, which the Bush administration is so far planning to build in Poland and Czech Republic.

"NATO is the best place for discussion of this issue," Merkel said. "It is better to have more discussion on this issue rather than less."

Moscow has rejected Washington's claims the shields are designed to protect against missile attacks by North Korea and Iran, and threatened to withdraw from from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which outlawed an entire class of medium-range weapons if Washington goes ahead with construction.

Meanwhile, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek dismissed European objections to the plan.

"As for the 18 EU 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.

Topics: Angela Merkel, Mirek Topolanek
© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 20
Singer Janelle Monae arrives at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California
View Caption
Singer Janelle Monae arrives for the MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
The bar for spelling has never been lowre
Turns out men cheat way more than women after all
Famous last words: "The notion that it's too late to do anything is comical. It's hilarious. We're...
Five secrets to getting the best healthcare. #6: Don't get sick
Traveling to the U.S.? If invited to a dinner party, bring a gift of wine, but not cash or toiletries...
Man turns dead pet cat into remote-controlled helicopter, calls it art (w/WTF pics)