Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Obama lukewarm on Europe missile base plan

US President Barack Obama gave no clear commitment to building missile defence bases in Europe during a speech in Prague on Sunday (5 April), which concentrated on nuclear disarmament and co-operation with Russia.

The US leader thanked a "courageous" Poland and Czech Republic for agreeing with the previous White House administration to host US anti-missile facilities despite Russian opposition.

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  • President Obama takes the podium for his Prague speech (Photo: aic.cz)

But he repeated doubts over the value of the multi-billion dollar scheme and linked construction to the evolution of a ballistic threat from Iran.

"As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defence system that is cost effective and proven," Mr Obama said. "If the Iranian threat is eliminated ...the driving force for missile defense construction in Europe at this time will be removed."

Russian TV on Sunday showed a small crowd of anti-missile shield protestors in central Prague and cited opinion polls saying 70 percent of Czechs oppose the project. Many left-leaning governments in the EU also dislike the scheme.

Mr Obama's Prague speech will be remembered for his call to rid the world of nuclear weapons, a goal which he admitted may not be achieved in his lifetime.

The US leader said he agreed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in London last week to sign by the end of the year a binding bilateral treaty on reducing nuclear arsenals.

He underlined the need to "expand our co-operation with Russia" on preventing black market access to fissile material and supported the creation of an international fuel bank for enriched uranium.

The bank idea, first floated by the then Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2006, would create a monopoly of enrichment-capable states selling fuel for use in peaceful reactors instead of exporting potentially dangerous enrichment technology.

Mr Obama's remarks came on a day when nuclear power North Korea tested a long range missile, attracting EU and US condemnation.

His eagerly-awaited speech, delivered in spring sunshine in a castle courtyard to thousands of US flag-waving fans, also addressed eastern Europe's pride in throwing off Soviet domination in the 1980s and its fear of a newly-resurgent Russia.

"We are here today because of the Prague Spring ...[and] the Sametova revoluce," he said, referring to the Czech Republic's 1968 and 1989 peaceful anti-Soviet movements, while taking a stab at pronouncing two words in Czech.

"The Iron Curtain was lifted, and freedom spread like flowing water."

"The United States will never turn its back on the people of the Czech Republic," he added, citing Article 5 of the NATO treaty on collective security. "An attack on one is an attack on all. That is a promise for our time and for all time."

President Obama went on to greet the 27 EU leaders for a two hour-long summit in the Czech capital, the penultimate stage of a marathon diplomatic tour that will end in Turkey on Monday.

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