Russia warns of 'military response' over US shield deal

Russia will be forced to make a military response if the US-Czech missile defence agreement is ratified, the Foreign Ministry said tonight.

The statement came hours after US and Czech officials reached an initial agreement on deploying elements of a missile defence system in the Eastern European country.

Russia said the system would severely undermine European security balances by weakening Russia’s missile capacity.

If the agreement is ratified, “we will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with military-technical methods,” the Foreign Ministry statement said. It did not give specifics of what the response would entail.

In February, then-President Vladimir Putin said Russia could aim missiles towards prospective missile defence sites and deploy missiles in the Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad, which borders Poland, if the missile defence plan went forward.

The US has pushed the plan as necessary to prevent missile attacks by rogue nations, pointing to Iran as a particular concern. But Russia dismisses the likelihood of such threats.

Earlier today, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the shield is a good deal for the Czech Republic and for Poland, where the US hopes to place another part of the system, although Warsaw has yet to agree.

The next American president will have to decide whether and how to go forward with the missile defence system, Ms Rice said, while making the case that the threat from Iran is growing.

“It’s hard for me to believe that that’s not a capability an American president is going to want to have,” Ms Rice said.

Ms Rice signed the agreement along with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

“This treaty will not only increase security of the Czech Republic but also of Europe,” and beyond, Mr Schwarzenberg said.

Ms Rice has all but ruled out a stop in Poland this week to finalise the missile defence shield plan there, saying the US has answered Polish demands for military hardware and the final agreement rests with Polish authorities.

The proposed US missile defence system calls for a tracking radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

The Bush administration is trying to arrange deals before US President George Bush leaves office in January. But talks with Poland have bogged down recently over Polish demands for billions of dollars worth of US military aid, in part to deter a possible strike from Russia.

Today’s signing in Prague isn’t a guarantee that US will be able to build and operate a proposed radar base near the Czech capital. There are still open negotiations on a second treaty dealing with the legal status of US soldiers to be deployed at the planned radar base.

Even more difficult will be parliamentary approval for both documents.

The three-party governing coalition enjoys the support of only half of the 200 MPs in the parliament’s lower chamber, not enough to ratify any deal as the opposition parties fiercely oppose the missile defence plan and call for a nationwide referendum on the issue.

About two thirds of Czechs say they oppose the missile defence deal, according to a number of polls.

The government plans to submit the deal with US to the hostile parliament for a heated and lengthy debate only after the next general elections planned for 2010.