France backs NATO missile defense system: source
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (C) delivers a speech during the opening session of a NATO defence ministers meeting (NAC) at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels October 14, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Thierry Roge
PARIS | Fri Oct 15, 2010 6:44am EDT
PARIS (Reuters) - France supports a NATO-wide missile defense system and is willing to help fund it, a source in the French president's office said on Friday, dispelling earlier talk that the country was skeptical. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said there was broad agreement among member states about the need for a missile defense system, which will be discussed at a summit in Lisbon on November 19 and 20.
France had previously expressed skepticism. "France is not against. It is frankly for the system. It complements the nuclear deterrent, which is irreplaceable," said the source, who requested anonymity. "We are ready to provide financial help as well as technological help." Rasmussen wants allies to agree to invest 200 million euros ($282 million) to link their missile defense capabilities with interceptors that Washington plans to deploy in Europe.
The presidential source told Reuters the shield was designed to defend the 28-member alliance from an Iranian missile attack -- not one coming from Russia. "For us this anti-missile system is to face Iran and (similar) threats. It's as much for Russia as it is for the EU and the United States," he said. France, which had earlier questioned details of the plan, was in favor of U.S. proposals for the shield although it was still too early to discuss who would control it, he added.
"(U.S.) President (Barack) Obama's project is more realistic. It will start slowly and cost less," he said. French Defense Minister Herve Morin has hinted the project would be approved in Lisbon, but compared it to the Maginot Line of fixed gun emplacements and fortifications that failed to prevent Germany's invasion of France during World War Two.
(Reporting by John Irish; Writing by Brian Love and Nick Vinocur; Editing by Charles Dick)
