The Assistant Secretary of Defence from the US, Alexander Vershbow, who will speak at the NATO ministerial meeting in Bratislava on October 21-23 and a conference called “New Challenges - Better Capabilities” (NCBC) is expected to address changes in the approach of the US to the anti-missile shield defence systems in central Europe, the TASR newswire reported.
Vershbow will also comment on US-Russian relations, NATO's mission in Afghanistan, and the Alliance's strategic concept, TASR was told by Milan Šuplata from the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC).
President Barack Obama said several weeks ago that the US will not build a long-planned radar base in the Czech Republic or an anti-missile shield in Poland, said Šuplata, adding that some significant figures in the central Europe region have warned that the modifications of the American plans will cause increased Russian activity in the region.
Vershbow is expected to explain the changes in the approach of the US at the conference. New NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is set to deliver one of his key addresses after assuming his post at the conference in Bratislava with his speech devoted to his vision of NATO in a changing security environment. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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