The Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee voted against funding stationing the U.S. interceptors in Poland.
Photo: ITAR-TASS
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House Subcommittee Blocks Funding East Europe’s Defense Shield
The Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee voted against appropriating $160 million to fund stationing the U.S. interceptors in Poland.
Earlier this year, President George W. Bush addressed the Congress, urging it to sanction appropriating $310 million to fund stationing ten interceptors in Poland and constructing a radar in Czechia. As deliberations on the missile shield of East Europe are still underway, the funding could be restored by the House or in the Senate.
The United States announced the withdrawal from ABM Treaty in late 2001. The treaty that Soviet Union and the United States entered into in 1972, spelled out the parties’ refusal to create national defense missile systems to maintain strategic parity.
The U.S. plans to station interceptors and a radar in Eastern Europe have been chastised by Russia. But Washington claims it needs the missile shield to timely detect and prevent nuclear attack of so-called rogue states – Iran and North Korea.
The diplomatic storm over the missile shield hasn’t been hailed in the NATO – Pentagon launched bilateral negotiations with Poland and Czechia without proper consultations with the European allies.
www.kommersant.com
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