The German project to create a European anti-missile shield is taking shape. 14 European member countries of NATO and Finland, a candidate for the military alliance, have signed this Thursday a letter of commitment that lays the foundations of the initiative known as European Sky Shield (European Sky Shield) that, led by Berlin, plans to integrate participants’ air defense systems to deal with the Russian missile threat at a time when Moscow continues to raise the tone of its threats against the West. “We have to move fast now,” stressed the German Defense Minister, Christine Lambrecht, after the signing at the Atlantic Alliance headquarters in Brussels. “It is important that the gaps are closed [en nuestra defensa]because we all see what times we live in: these are dangerous and challenging times”, added Lambrecht.
Spain is not currently part of the cooperation and joint purchase project, which could be deployed through NATO. Berlin has not “formally” proposed to Madrid its participation in the initiative, according to the Spanish Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, who explained this Thursday that if the offer were raised, Spain “would study it”. In the program, mentioned in August by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, they will participate together with Germany and Finland, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and the United Kingdom. United.
NATO already has an anti-missile shield, designed above all to prevent an attack by (very long-range) ballistic missiles coming from territories such as Iran or Korea, but which at the time sparked great misgivings from Russia. The Atlantic Alliance’s shield consists of a radar system located in Turkey, which would detect the launch of a ballistic missile in space and then destroy it from the mainland or from ships, which are moored at the base in the Spanish city of Rota, in Cadiz.
The new European shield is intended to cover gaps, according to Berlin, and would be integrated into the program of the Atlantic Alliance, explained its deputy secretary general, Mircea Geoana. “The new assets, fully interoperable and seamlessly integrated within NATO’s air and missile defense, would significantly enhance our ability to defend the Alliance from all air and missile threats,” said Geoana.
The European shield, allied sources point out, will have several layers to intercept different types of missiles from different heights, and could connect various models of anti-aircraft defense systems, such as the Israeli Arrow 3, the American-made Patriots and the German Iris-T.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has accelerated a change in the defense model in Germany, which has launched a fund of 100,000 million euros to modernize its Armed Forces, and has shaken the European security architecture. The result of the invasion ordered by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has resulted in a rearmament of the EU countries, especially to send material to Ukraine, and in the fulmination of the neutral status of Finland and Sweden, which now await their entry into NATO.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe
It has also led to joint initiatives such as the European anti-missile shield led by Germany. Its creation, however, will not be quick. Berlin has stated that it is not likely to be operational for many months, perhaps even years, depending on the defense industry’s already strained production capacity. Germany is already in talks with Israel to acquire the Arrow 3 – capable of intercepting missiles outside the atmosphere – but the purchase (which would amount to about 2,000 million euros) and installation may not be completed until 2025, according to Berlin.
Support for Ukraine
The European member countries of NATO are also moving to try to replenish their weapons reserves, badly hit after the supply agreements with Ukraine, and are exploring other ways of cooperation for joint purchases. In July, the European Union put on the table a package of 500 million euros for joint purchases by the member states. The NATO defense ministers have discussed this Thursday in Brussels also the replenishment of inventories.
Meanwhile, Russia has continued its indiscriminate attacks in Ukraine, launching new bombardments on 40 cities and towns in the last 24 hours. A good number of member countries of the Atlantic Alliance have agreed these days to provide kyiv with anti-aircraft defense systems and have maintained that they will provide support to Ukraine “as long as necessary”. The unity of all members in their support for Ukraine, said the Spanish minister, has no “fissures”. “We cannot tolerate Putin’s threats, he is going to find a united NATO,” Robles stressed.
Borrell warns Putin that a nuclear attack would provoke a military response that would “annihilate” the Russian army
Silvia Ayuso
Russian President Vladimir Putin would do better not to “bluff” by waving the threat of a nuclear attack, because the international community’s “military response” to an atomic attack would be so “powerful” that it would result in an “annihilation” of the Russian army, warned this Thursday the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell.
“Putin is saying that he is not bluffing [con la amenaza nuclear], but he can’t afford it, he can’t. And he has to be clear that those who support Ukraine, the EU, the Member States, the United States and NATO are not bluffing either and that any nuclear attack against Ukraine will provoke a response from the international community,” Borrell said in a statement. speech in the Belgian city of Bruges.
“Any nuclear attack on Ukraine will provoke a response. It will not be a nuclear response, but it will be a military response so powerful that the Russian army would be annihilated,” Borrell stressed during the inauguration of the European Diplomatic Academy, with which the community bloc wants to train its own diplomats.
Although the term “annihilate” used by Borrell sounds harsher than usual, his speech is part of the long list of warnings that international powers and institutions, from Washington to NATO, have issued to Russia since Putin evoked the nuclear threat , stress community sources. “The use or deployment of nuclear weapons would be a total turning point,” recalled the Commission’s spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Peter Stano, in this regard.
Follow all the international information in Facebook Y Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
read without limits
#Fifteen #NATO #countries #agree #create #European #antimissile #shield