US missile defence system in Europe a threat: Anatoly

Moscow, June 27 (UNI) Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov today said the planned deployment of elements of US missile defence system in Europe posed a threat to Russia's cooperation with NATO and the European Union on security issues.

"The deployment of US missile defence elements in Europe not only upsets the existing military-strategic parity, but it also poses a threat to the mechanism of interaction between Russia and the relevant European Union and NATO institutions in the area of security which has taken shape in the new geopolitical conditions in the last 15 years," Interfax news agency quoted Serdyukov as saying at a meeting of the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.

He accused the US of attempts to establish global hegemony, saying its unilateral actions "bring back memories of the Cold War, whose legacy we have begun to get rid of by building a new multi-polar world order." He also said the issue of deploying a missile shield in Europe should be decided collectively by all countries maintaining the strategic balance of forces on the European continent.

US plans to deploy 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic to protect its European allies against a potential strike from ''rogue states'' such as Iran and North Korea.

Serdyukov said Russia had completed preparations for the SCO's Peace Mission 2007 joint manoeuvres to be held in Russia's Chelyabinsk region in August.

"The Peace Mission exercises are to be held from August 9 to 17 on a training ground outside the town of Chebarkul. I would like to inform you that all the main stages in preparations have been completed," he said.

UNI