Nato's secretary-general has warned that a proposed US missile defence system risks splitting the alliance between those the system would protect and those it would not, the Financial Timesreported today.
"When it comes to missile defence, there shouldn't be an A-League and a B-league within Nato," the newspaper quoted Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as saying in an interview.
Nato secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Many Nato allies are concerned about the US system, which would be based in Poland and the Czech Republic to shoot down missiles fired by what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
The Financial Timesquoted Nato officials as saying that the US programme would protect almost all of Europe but not the southeast, which would need an extra, shorter-range system because of its proximity to Iran.
The paper quoted Mr de Hoop Scheffer as saying the US programme could be complemented by existing Nato plans to put a battlefield missile defence system into operation by 2010.
Mr de Hoop Scheffer made clear he believed there was a real missile threat to Europe. "There is every reason to believe that, given the North Korean missile tests and the Iranian capability and what the Iranians are saying," the FTquoted him as saying.