PRESS RELEASE

25 May 2000

U.S. Makes Little Headway With Allies on NMD 

WASHINGTON, DC – Concerns among European allies about the possibility the United States will deploy National Missile Defense (NMD) continued to surface during high-level consultations at the NATO ministerial meeting in Florence, Italy.  In a communiqué issued by foreign ministers of NATO countries yesterday, they said they would “continue discussions on these issues” including U.S. consideration of NMD. 

“On NMD - Madeleine Albright faced a continued wall of concern and criticism at these meetings,” said Daniel Plesch, director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC).  “As expected, not one U.S. ally in Europe showed support for the anti-missile system.”  

U.S. allies in Europe are queasy over what they see as throwing money at a problem that they are not convinced yet exists.  They are even less enthused about the likely negative ramifications on global disarmament and non-proliferation efforts, as witnessed by statements by leaders such as French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer at the May 24 NATO meeting. 

According to a report by Agence France Presse, Vedrine warned his colleagues that a U.S. missile defense program could have “possibly destabilizing strategic consequences.” Vedrine reminded the allies that NMD was an ongoing debate and he stressed that the United States had still not made a decision and that the four key criteria for deployment remained.   

President Bill Clinton has identified four criteria that will be evaluated in advance of his decision on whether or not to back NMD.  Among these criteria is the overall cost; level of threat posed to national security; impact on cooperation with our Allies; and the feasibility of a working system. 

“If President Clinton bases his decision on what U.S. allies want, he will not deploy this system,” said Mr. Plesch. 

For more information, please contact:
Daniel Plesch at 202-997-1562 mobile or 202-785-1266. 

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