CSMonitor: Why Europe welcomes US missile defense shield decision

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Why Europe welcomes US missile defense shield decision

With President Barack Obama facing Republican charges that backing off a missile shield in eastern Europe is appeasing Russia and abandoning Poland, European officials are strongly applauding the American decision. German and French diplomats see the White House move as changing a US policy imposed unilaterally on Europe – and allowing greater running room with Moscow on issues from Iran to North Korea, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, and with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. But Alexander Rahr of the German Council of Foreign Relations, a Russian expert, says the original US missile shield plan was ill-conceived. He says that in eastern Europe and Russia the decision to shelve it is raising a new question: "Is Obama doing this out of American strength, or out of American weakness?" He adds, "I know that sounds pretty 19th century. But that's the question."

NY Times: Obama Ends a 'Special Relationship' (with Eastern Europe) - by Judy Dempsey

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Obama Ends a 'Special Relationship'(with Eastern Europe - by Judy Dempsey

With Barack Obama in the White House, the deployment of the missile shield in Eastern Europe is no longer a given, as defense experts question its costs, its effectiveness and even its location. As a result, the certainties of the Bush era have given way to a sense of betrayal — but maybe also realism — on the part of the East Europeans. Throughout the Bush administration, the East Europeans had supported the U.S. war on terrorism. They had broken ranks with many other European Union countries in supporting the invasion of Iraq by sending troops. They had turned a blind eye to renditions and interrogation centers (though there were also West European countries that did that).Note EU-Digest: This is a pragmatic and intelligent move by the Obama Administration. As we have often commented in EU-Digest, the Bush Administration did the EU a disservice in having a special relationship with the Eastern European members of the EU, because it created instability within the Union, specifically as it related to the EU ties with Russia.

DW: Poland Demands US Protection as Missile Shield Debate Heats up

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Poland Demands US Protection as Missile Shield Debate Heats up

Poland finds itself between a rock and hard place in regards to the planned deployment of US missiles on its territory. As a result, the Poles want assurances that they will be protected, whatever their decision. Poland cranked up the diplomatic heat on Washington Saturday when Defense Minister Bogdan Klich called for a special military treaty ahead of negotiations on a US missile shield in Europe.

Demanding the same agreements and protection afforded the likes of Italy and Turkey, Klich suggested that the United States owed Poland for the support and concessions it had made over the years.

Los Angeles Times- Europe skeptical on missile shield - by Peter Spiegel and Kim Murphy

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Europe skeptical on missile shield - by Peter Spiegel and Kim Murphy

For months, the Bush administration has courted Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to gain assent for its plans to build a long-range missile defense system in Eastern Europe. But the focus on Moscow may be misplaced. In the three capitals where legislatures must approve the system before ground is broken — Washington, Prague and Warsaw — support is thin and fading.

This growing opposition, detailed in interviews with current and former officials in the three countries, reflects what politicians and analysts view as the administration's mishandling of the issue and President Bush's rapidly declining influence both on Capitol Hill and among once-stalwart allies in what his administration has called "new Europe."

New Europe: EU wants US anti-missile defence integrated in NATO

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EU wants US anti-missile defence integrated in NATO

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on March 2 said US plans for a European-based anti-missile defence system should become part of a wider NATO framework, a move which could ease current Russia’s security concerns over the initiative.

“I think the development of such a system should be integrated into the NATO military alliance,” Jung told reporters at the end of a meeting of European Union defence ministers in Wiesbaden, central Germany.