“On the first day of its summit in Chicago, NATO has declared stage one of its European missile defense shield “provisionally operational.”
“It is the first step towards our long-term goal of providing full coverage and protection for all NATO European populations, territory and forces,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters on Sunday.
Specifically, this means that the United States has transferred command of a radar system in Turkey to NATO’s command and allowed the alliance to direct the missile defense system stationed on US ships. These ships can also be placed under NATO command. Spain, Turkey, Romania and Poland have agreed to deploy key parts of the U.S. missile defense system on their soil.
The White House says it expects initial operational capability by 2015, while the system will be fully functional in 2018. All 28 members of the alliance will participate in the financing.
The missile defense shield has created tension with Russia, which views the system as a threat. Rasmussen stressed that Russia has no influence on the sovereign decision of NATO’s member states but still invited Moscow to co-operate in discussions on the subject. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also said ahead of the summit that Russia is welcome to work on a joint security strategy for Europe: “The door remains open for Russia.”  …

Article – Deutsche Welle