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German Defense Minister in Favor of US Missile Shield in Europe
German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung on Thursday expressed support for the US plan to build a missile shield in central Europe. The latest developments with Irans nuclear program reinforce the case for deploying a missile shield to protect Europe from attacks, Jung told Reuters in an interview Thursday.The controversial plan has met with opposition among the ruling coalition in Germany, as well as in Russia and central Europe. Jung, a Christian Democrat, is the first high-ranking German official to speak out strongly in favor of the missile shield plan. "Timely precautions must be taken against the foreseeable increase of the range of offensive missiles of certain problem states, even if it concerns long-term developments," Jung told Reuters. Though the minister avoided naming Iran directly in the interview, it was clear that he had Iran as well as North Korea in mind. When asked how close he thought Iran was to constructing a nuclear weapon, the defense minister said, "According to expert assessments, Iran is years away from that point." He added that it was still possible to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power through democracy. Posted by: mrp 2007-04-12 |
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