NATO expects close work with U.S. on missiles

BRUSSELS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - NATO said on Thursday it expected closer cooperation with the United States on developing anti-missile systems, but did not comment on reports that Washington will shelve plans for a missile defence shield in eastern Europe.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he had spoken to U.S. officials on Thursday but did not react directly to the reports that Washington is backing away from its missile defence project involving sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, which has provoked Russian concerns.
"It is my clear impression that the American plans on missile defence will involve NATO as such to a higher degree in the future concerning the establishment of missile defence," he told reporters in Brussels.
"I highly appreciate that. I think it is in full accordance with the principle of solidarity within the alliance and the indivisibility of security in Europe."
He said closer integration on missile defence would be a positive step and in the interests of "our eastern allies within the NATO alliance."
Poland and the Czech Republic are among the countries from eastern and central Europe which joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
NATO has been developing plans for defence against short- to medium-range missiles and has in the past cooperated with Russia to ensure such systems can work with each other.
Washington has said the plans for the Czech Republic and Poland were intended to defend against the possibility of a missile attack on Europe by a country such as Iran. NATO had been considering moves to complement the U.S. system to extend the area protected.
Dropping plans to station anti-missile systems in former Soviet bloc states would ease NATO's efforts to boost security ties with Russia, which Rasmussen again said was a priority for the alliance. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom)