‘No to NATO, No to Bases, No to War’: Spain Getting Ready to Greet Obama
SputnikNews.com
09.07.2016
US President Barack Obama will visit a military base in the city of Rota that hosts four US warships outfitted with the Aegis Combat System while on his first official trip to Spain. The ships are part of the European missile defense system, built by the US and operated by NATO.
The plan, formally known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach or EPAA, has been in place since 2009. The system features four ballistic missile defense-capable ships deployed to the Mediterranean, 18 AN/TPY-2 radars based in Turkey and two Aegis Ashore bases in Romania and Poland. The site in Romania came online earlier this year, sparking major concern in Moscow.
US and NATO officials claim that the European missile defense is meant to protect Washington and its European allies against ballistic missile threats from rogue states. Apparently, the White House still classifies Iran as such. But Russia views the EPAA in the context of NATO’s increased assertiveness in Eastern Europe and the Baltic region.
“European missile defense system undermines strategic stability in its traditional sense. This is why Russia has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the initiative,” Dmitry Suslov, program director at the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, told Gazeta.ru. “We need to establish international legal framework in order to prevent relations between Russia and the United States from being ruined.”
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