BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/11/2007

Minsk wants to guarantee its security assuming U.S. missile defense in Europe

MINSK. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Belarus will guarantee its national security in new conditions, in particular assuming the deployment of elements of the U.S. missile defense in Europe, spokesman of the Belarusian Foreign Minsitry Andrei Popov said, commenting on whether the acquisition of Russia's Iskander missile system is a reaction to the deployment of elements of the U.S. missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Belarus sees no objective preconditions and reasons to deploy missile defense elements in Europe. We will also guarantee our security in newly emerging conditions," Popov said.

Russian-Belarusian interaction in the military and technical area has existed for quite a long period of time and "this is not a secret," the spokesman said.

"This cooperation has been developing and is one of the means of guaranteeing our security," Popov said.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/335846/news.aspx