There will be no final decision on how NATO would actually proceed with a strategic missile defense system at the alliance's summit in Bucharest, Romania, next month, said a NATO official on Wednesday.
"I don't think we are going to see a decision there. I don't see any nation pushing for a decision on an actual procurement program, an actual decision on defense architecture," Peter Flory, NATO assistant secretary general for defense investment, told reporters.
The leaders would instead approve a document acknowledging the missile threat that NATO faces, acknowledging the contribution of a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe and acknowledging that missile defense can play a role in overall strategy against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he said.
The leaders would then ask experts to develop options for their consideration at the next summit in 2009, said Flory.
A feasibility study in 2006 concluded that a strategic missile defense system for NATO was technically feasible and the costs were estimated at 20 billion euros to 27 billion euros in 20 years.
But Washington's announcement of its plan in January 2007 to build a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic hijacked discussions within the alliance. The European allies had to consider a bolt-on of NATO's own theater missile defense system, which is being developed to counter short-and medium-range missiles, with the U.S. system, which is against long-range ballistic missiles.
Flory said debate on costs and effectiveness of the bolt-on system is still under way.
Source:Xinhua
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