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EUROPE
U.S. Base Revives Cold War Feelings
By Zoltán Dujisin
BUDAPEST, Mar 27, 2007 (IPS) - The U.S. missile defence system to be deployed in
Eastern Europe is becoming a matter for
concern in all of Europe. Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are now
worried and demand
talks.
The missile defence system, allegedly aimed at protecting the West from
missile attacks by
'rogue states', would have two components by 2011: a radar in the Czech
Republic and an
anti-missile base in Poland.
Right-wing cabinets in Prague and Warsaw are in favour of hosting the base
and are now
rather focusing on which terms to set Washington, whereas members of the
North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation (NATO) are divided and still considering its strategic
and financial
implications.
Major EU countries could end up reviewing their political role. France and
other large
European Union (EU) member states "had hoped until recently to act as
mediators between
Iran and the international community, as well as to continue exerting
influence in the
Middle East," Svetlozar Andreev, political scientist at the Centre for
Political and
Constitutional Studies in Madrid told IPS.
"The basic problem is how to reconcile the interests of large countries
like France,
Germany, Italy and Spain with those of the United States," Andreev said.
French President Jacques Chirac has warned the base could create "new
divisions in
Europe."
During her visit to Poland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also insisted
on "a solution
within NATO," and "an open talk with Russia on the subject," whereas her
foreign minister
Frank Walter Steinmeier warned of the danger of a new arms race.
The Ukrainian parliament has also condemned the U.S. plans, but government
officials
believe Ukraine should actively participate in talks due to its position
between the West
and Russia.
According to Russian and Ukrainian analysts, Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovich could be
the man who will manage to include Russia in the controversial negotiation
process.
However, western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko said the base was
solely a matter
for the countries concerned, and implied the project would benefit
European collective
security.
Russia is reacting harshly to speculations, but Svetlozar thinks Moscow
might be getting
ready for a different Europe.
"Russians would very much like to use the build up of NATO and U.S.
military capabilities
near its Western borders as an excuse to upgrade their military defence
systems, de-
legitimise the U.S. as a 'hegemonic power' and probably get concessions in
the
international arena," he told IPS.
The Polish, Czech and U.S. governments' failure to provide extensive
information on the
plans has also resulted in criticism, even among pro-base individuals.
In Trokavec, one of the West Bohemian villages in the Czech Republic in
whose vicinity the
radar would be placed, the population almost unanimously rejected the
radar in a local
referendum, citing lack of information, health risks and fear of becoming
a target in case
of war.
With public interest growing, polls indicate most Czechs and Poles reject
the base, and in
the Polish case researchers concluded that access to information was
linked to opposition
to the base.
For those on the centre and the left, only a system within NATO could be
approved, and by
referendum. The right claims there are too many divergent views in NATO
for that and that
the system could be integrated later into the organisation.
But Czech Green deputy head Ondrej Liska, a member of the ruling
coalition, believes
most Czechs want to involve NATO and is calling for postponing the
decision on hosting
the base until after the U.S. presidential elections next year.
Liska, who recently met with several Democrat and Republican politicians,
officials and
experts in the U.S., concluded there is no unanimity on the system's cost
and
effectiveness.
The deputy also noted the U.S. and the EU, to which the Czech Republic
belongs, have
different security strategies.
Nevertheless, a civic group comprising famous artists and former
politicians recently
sprung up in support of the U.S. base, saying the Czech Republic should
repay the U.S. for
its soldiers' efforts "defending freedom in Europe" in the past.
Many in the right see U.S. presence in the region in a positive light,
balancing what they
perceive as a German and Russian domination and partnership in the
economic and energy
fields.
But above all, when it comes to international matters the right tends to
trust the 'active'
U.S. rather than the 'passive' EU. The right also resents Western European
governments for
acknowledging Russian concerns.
Many have recognised that the radar in the Czech Republic could monitor
movements of
troops in much of Russia and that the base could develop into something
larger in the
future.
Russian analysts sees the base as upsetting the overall balance of
strategic forces between
the U.S. and Russia, and speculate its goal could be to drag Russia into
an unnecessary
and costly arms race.
The Polish and Czech right argue the base is defensive and dismiss the
concerns as part of
Russian domestic politics.
Moreover, statements by Russian generals saying Moscow would have the
capacity to point
its missiles at the U.S. facility have inflamed the anti-Russian right in
Eastern Europe.
While denying the base could be used against Moscow in the future,
statements by Czech
officials indicate a high level of mistrust.
Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg declared there was no way to
know if Russian
missiles had been pointed at the Czech Republic up until now, and added
the Russian
Federation was "starting to claim in Europe the position of the former
Soviet Union."
Schwarzenberg also said Russia's stance on the missile defence system
would not be taken
into account.
In Poland, experts and journalists have also raised the issue of Russia's
increasing defence
expenditure and its alleged imperial ambitions.
The Polish foreign ministry has gone as far as questioning NATO's capacity
to ensure the
country's security in the event of a conflict, and Warsaw is intent on
signing a bilateral
security agreement with the United States.
The leaked information, which included a statement by deputy foreign
minister Witold
Waszczykowski calling NATO "not our dream alliance," has caused uproar in
Poland.
Speaking to the press, Roman Kuzniar, from the International Relations
Institute in
Warsaw, said the foreign ministry's approach amounted to a no-confidence
vote in NATO,
under which Poland had been safer than ever before, and a return to a
simplified, cold-war
view of the world.
Kuzniar, warning against U.S. tactics of forging ad-hoc alliances with
NATO members,
considered "there are no such threats that could force us to rely solely
on the only
superpower." (END)
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