Magazine / Politics / US-Missile-Defence / Debate | 11/04/2007

Is the US Missile Defence System Dividing Europe?

The US wants to install bases for its long-planned missile defence shield in Europe. Last year it persuaded Poland and the Czech Republic to participate in the project. It wasn't until Russia protested vigorously at the beginning of the year that the arms project became the subject of a pan-European debate.

In 2007, Europe is once again caught up in a debate about its armament policy and there is talk of a new arms race. The drastic statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 10 February 2007 at the Munich Conference on Security Policy triggered the debate. He harshly criticised the US plans to install bases for its missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and openly threatened to resort to military countermeasures.

Is a new Cold War looming? Security experts warn of threat of a divided Europe.
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The US wants to set up a radar station that would function as an early-warning system in the Czech Republic. If there were an attack, the radar tracking system would trigger the launch of the ground-based interceptor missiles the US wants to station in Poland. The defence shield is to be fully operational by 2011; however military experts have pointed out that many technical problems have yet to be overcome.

Protection for Eastern Europe?

On 20 July 2006, Jiri Sedivy, former chief of staff of the Czech army, urged the Czech Republic to participate in the US missile defence project: "The Warsaw Pact forced us to be allies. Today, we have the choice. In 1968 the Soviets came through our door without asking permission and stayed for two decades. The US is asking permission to station a few hundred soldiers here on our own terms. If we say no, the missile defence system will be built elsewhere."

Polish commentator Jedrzej Bielecki also points out in the 25 July 2006 edition of Rzeczpospolita that "this is the first real opportunity to truly strengthen Poland's security. In view of Russia's increasingly authoritarian tendencies and the political crisis in the EU, this should be one of the Polish government's top priorities."

Former Czech Foreign Minister Jiri Dienstbier, on the other hand, has spoken out against a missile defence base on Czech soil: "In an already unstable world we shouldn't let ourselves relapse into an arms race," he wrote on 6 August 2006 in a guest commentary for Pravo.

From the Cold War to a new Europe

The US has been working on a military defence shield that intercepts enemy missiles for more than two decades. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as "Star Wars", originated back when Ronald Reagan was US president. But over the years the media let it fade into the background as one test after another failed. During President George W. Bush's first term of office the old project, renamed National Missile Defence (NMD), received a major boost.

According to Donald Rumsfeld, who was US Defence Minister at the time, Poland and the Czech Republic belong to the "new Europe" - or in other words they are among those former communist states that backed the US in the Iraq war from the beginning. This new Europe stands in contrast to the "old Europe" which, according to Rumsfeld's definition, includes countries like Germany and France, who officially rejected the war.

A divided Europe?

This classification with which Rumsfeld tried to divide Europe is also the leitmotif of the current European debate about the missile defence system.

On 8 March 2007, after the Danish government announced that it, too, wanted to participate in the missile defence system, the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten warned: "The US's single-handed approach, which involves negotiating with individual European states, could divide Europe."

In an interview published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung of 19 March 2007, Egon Bahr, the German Social Democrats' security expert, expressed understanding for the Eastern Europeans' position: "... if the collective memory of our eastern neighbours drives them to make this decision [in favour of the US bases], then we must accept it." Nonetheless, he added: "It is our duty to warn our ... neighbours that this could divide Europe."

Germany's special role

In the same interview Bahr explained Germany's position in the debate: "Seeking a strategic partnership with Russia is a German tradition. The American project doesn't fit in with this tradition: America's policy towards Russia is partially confrontational."

Frank Nienhuysen also argues along these lines in the 9 February 2007 edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "The missiles should not be allowed to trigger a new arms race or a break in the relations between NATO and Russia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has taken many years of effort to build a still fragile foundation of trust."

Similarly, Peter Dunai noted in the Hungarian newspaper Nepszabadsag of 14 March 2007, that Germany seemed particularly sympathetic to Russia's concerns: "Germany, which is dependent on Russian energy, is particularly sensitive about the issue: Gerhard Schröder would certainly have tried to avoid a conflict with Moscow at all costs, but even the Conservatives have yet to voice their support for the missile defence system."

The Poles and the Czechs as America's loyal allies

As Ulrich Schmid pointed out on 24 January 2007 in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Putin's harsh reaction at the Munich Security Conference did not come as a surprise to the Poles or the Czechs: "Warsaw and Prague are very much aware that military cooperation of this scale with the US will set a new precedent that will no doubt incur consternation in Russia... The respective governments led by Prime Minister Topolanek and Jaroslaw Kaczynski are well known for their pro-American attitudes, and they will be more inclined to go along with the Pentagon's wishes."

In the Czech daily Mlada fronta dnes of 20 February 2007, Czech commentator Viliam Buchert dryly observes: "It's understandable that the Russians don't like the US missile defence system. However, Moscow should also understand that neither the Americans nor NATO are threatening or have any intention of threatening Russia. Today's Russia is not an enemy of the Czech Republic, even though its recent reactions to the radar system make it appear so. Nor, however, is Russia our strategic partner."

Will "Star Wars" become a NATO project?

Shortly before her March 13th visit to Poland, current EU President Angela Merkel proposed a compromise in a move to take some of the tension out of the conflict and pre-empt a divided Europe. She suggested the Czech and Polish plans should be discussed together with the US within the NATO framework.

French commentator Daniel Vernet took up this proposal on 14 March 2007 in Le Monde, advising that "the only way to protect ourselves from this danger would be to internationalise anti-missile defence."

On 26 February 2007, the Dutch daily Trouw wrote: "Poland and the Czech Republic could have chosen a better path. The EU and NATO would have been better equipped to coordinate regional solutions to exterior threats coming from Russia, or countries such as Iran and North Korea. European security policy is of course still only in its embryonic stages, but it does not deserve to be condemned to death before it even sees the light of day."

Protest against the US bases

The strategic considerations of the Polish and Czech governments do not enjoy the full backing of the Czech and Polish people. For example, on 24 March 2007, opponents of the project demonstrated in Warsaw and threw plastic ducks at the presidential palace. The latest opinion polls by market research institute CVVM indicate that 60 percent of Czechs are against the country participating in the US's "Star Wars project". The results of a referendum held in the Czech village of Trokavec, around 2 km from the planned site for the radar station, were particularly unequivocal: 78 residents voted against the project while only one voted in favour.

Hans-Jörg Schmidt

Hans-Jörg Schmidt is a freelance Czech Republic and Slovakia correspondent for euro|topics as well as for several German-language newspapers, including Die Welt. He studied journalism ...
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Further articles on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Poland, » Czech Republic, » Europe, » U.S.
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