Disarmament Documentation

French President Jacques Chirac on US missile defence plans, March 9, 2007

SPRING EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY M. JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC - EXCERPTS - (Brussels, 9 March 2007).

SYRIA/US ANTI-MISSILE SHIELD

Q. - Do you think Mr Solana's visit to Syria is a good idea, and that Europe and the United States must do even more to reassure Russia on the anti-missile shield project in Poland and the Czech Republic?

THE PRESIDENT ... You also mention the decision taken to strengthen US defence systems in Eastern Europe. What I can tell you is that we must be very careful, as regards this project, not to encourage the creation of new dividing lines in Europe or the return to an obsolete order. To my mind this project raises many questions to which thought will have to be given before responding. (…)./.

Source: French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.diplomatie.fr.