[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sorabia@Yahoogroups. Com <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; SNN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; BALKAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; YAHOO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: NATO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 12:22 AM Subject: RIFT IN NATO : EUROPEAN ALLIES AGAINST USA [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 19:45 2001-06-14 RIFT IN NATO : EUROPEAN ALLIES AGAINST USA George W. Bush failed to convince his European allies to give their backing to his Nuclear Missile Defense (NMD) system and to give their support for an alteration to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. At an informal mini summit of NATO members, which united the USA and the 18 European members of the organization, the President of the USA, on his first visit to Europe, failed to get the backing he was seeking on these two important issues, although there was wide agreement on others, such as expansion of NATO eastwards to ex-Warsaw Pact members. The most vociferous of the Heads of State was Jacques Chirac, the President of France, who stated that The NMD shield is a fantastic stimulation towards proliferation, adding that by its very nature, the creation of a defensive shield against incoming enemy missiles is a challenge. The Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Guterres, declared that the NMD creates a risk of stimulating an arms race. He pointed out that the notion of any possible threat to the western world was irrational and claimed that it was important not to antagonize Russia and China. This statement comes in the light of recent American declarations that states such as North Korea or Libya pose a threat to the western world. This position was reiterated by the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, who expressed strong doubts over the shield, its financing and the role of Russia and China. In his opinion, these two countries should be given an important role in the project. The Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, had already committed himself to supporting the US project during President Bushs visit to Spain, whose position at present is one of the most supportive for the NMD. As for the ABM Treaty, signed between General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and President Richard Nixon in 1972, the US position that this treaty is a relic of the past is not shared by the European allies in NATO, which on the contrary, regard this treaty as a basis for world stability. Jaime Gama, the Portuguese Foreign Minister, stated that If changes have to be made to this treaty, they should be made through negotiation. Indeed, the USAs position of consultation not only with the European allies in NATO but also with Russia, China and India, among others, was praised by all present at the meeting. President Bush reiterated the fact that the US position is not to take any unilateral positions on the issue and that the USA would continue to make intensive consultations with both Russia and China on the NMD to bury once and for all the cold war mentality. There was also general support for the planned expansion of NATO eastwards to include ex-Warsaw pact countries. It is believed that at the next NATO summit in November 2002 in Prague, Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY Lisbon Correspondent, PRAVDA.Ru, in MOSCOW http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/06/14/7763.html Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
