Washington, October 24: The Czech Republic pledges support for the new US missile defense plan, after visiting US Vice President Joe Biden also won backing from Poland and Romania.
“As a NATO member and as a country which understands its commitments as well as the continuity of its foreign policy in this area, the Czech Republic is ready to participate in the creation of this new architecture,” Prime Minister Jan Fischer said at a joint press conference with Biden.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the new US missile defense plan also won broad support among NATO nations on Friday at an alliance meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed alliance ministers had “welcomed the plan” that, as Gates explained, is intended to protect US and European populations from the threat of ballistic missile attacks.
“The new missile-defense program is designed to meet existing threats in Europe with proven technology that will cover more of Europe, including the Czech Republic, more effectively than the previous system could have done,” Biden said on Friday in Prague, the Czech capital.
A high-level US defense team would visit the Czech capital in early November to discuss the terms of the Czech Republic’s participation, added the US vice president before flying back to Washington.
On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told visiting Biden that Warsaw was prepared to participate in the new missile defense plan. On Thursday, Romania also endorsed the new plan.
The SM-3 type missile defense system proposed by President Barack Obama’s administration replaces a missile shield plan slammed by Russia.
—–Agencies