The European leaders of Nato have announced that they will be approving the U.S.’s bid to install new missile defenses within Europe, ahead of George W. Bush’s talks with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

Nato leaders convened at at summit in Bucharest last Thursday, where they announced that they would support the plans, and even extend them to countries not initially suggested by the U.S., such as Turkey and regions of the Balkans.

George W. Bush will be politically reinforced by the European acceptance of this new defense system when he meets with Putin this weekend.

At this point last year, the alliance was divided over this issue, but with redoubled efforts by the U.S. to have a more open dialog with their fellow Nato members, and with Russia, the system has been given the go ahead after receiving revisions by European leaders of Nato.

An official from the U.S. has stated that this issue was expected to be highly divisive for Nato, however the European members of the international group have accepted the U.S.’s sincerity in this issue and their renewed efforts at working with the organization, especially its European and Russian members.

The inclusion of Russia into the scheme comes on the back of Putin making disparaging remarks regarding the U.S.’ intentions for the region, and especially towards his own country. The U.S. responded by saying that this system was designed to counter any missile or nuclear intentions from Iran and that it would not interfere with Russia.

Nato released a statement last Thursday in which they stated that they are of a similar view to the U.S. in regards to the potential threat that Iran poses to the region.

Tags: European Economy News, European Union News //