U.S. missile shield in Europe

Norway, which has for years opposed NATO's controversial missile defense in Europe, seems to have changed its tune and is seriously considering joining in. In early January, an expert group of researchers from the Norwegian and the US Armed Forces was formed to advise the Norwegian government on how to proceed with this fraught issue.

Russia has not seen such a major military buildup close to its borders since 1941 when the Third Reich sent the Wehrmacht to conquer the Soviet Union, Professor Stephen F. Cohen said in his recent interview on The John Batchelor Show, referring to NATO's increasingly assertive strategy in Eastern Europe and the Baltics.

Not a single NATO member voiced its opposition to Washington's "very destabilizing" initiative, although the US-built Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Europe will greatly affect the balance of power in the region, senior fellow at the Global Policy Institute of London Metropolitan University George Szamuely told Radio Sputnik.

US and NATO officials have claimed that their missile shield in Europe, including the Aegis Ashore base in Romania, is not directed at Russia, but Mateusz Piskorski, head of the European Center for Geopolitical Analysis, told Radio Sputnik that the program is part of Washington's strategy aimed at countering Moscow.

A group of local residents and anti-war activists protested in the northern Polish village of Redzikowo ahead of a ground-breaking ceremony for the United States' Aegis Ashore missile defense system.

The US is in the process of creating a missile defense system in Europe, much to Russia's concern; but history could have taken a different course, if Washington did not back out of an agreement with Moscow, retired major general Vladimir Dvorkin told the Izvestiya newspaper.

Washington and Warsaw began the construction of the ground-based Aegis battle management system in Poland.

Poland enters a new phase of strengthening of the country's security while constructing a military base, which will be a part of an US-designed ballistic missile defense system in Europe, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Friday.

The US Aegis Ashore missile defense complex in the northern Polish village of Redzikowo, construction of which began on Friday, is aimed against Russia, General Secretary of the Polish Zmiana (Change) party Tomasz Jankowski told Sputnik on Friday.

Local residents and anti-war activists protested in the northern Polish village of Redzikowo ahead of a ground-breaking ceremony for the United States’ Aegis Ashore missile defense system, Polish TVN24 reported Friday.

Washington's missile defense system in Europe is allegedly aimed to deal with the threat posed by Iran's missile program, but, experts agree, the Aegis program is in fact directed against Russia.

The US-made land-based Aegis missile defense system that has come online in Romania on Thursday could lead to a major conflict, activist Michael Billington of the Executive Intelligence Review told Press TV.

The United States should abandon its plans for a missile defense system in Europe, as the breakthrough deal last month with Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions “has completely changed the geopolitical situation,” a Russian foreign ministry official said Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that plans by foreign powers to develop high-precision weapons for use with missile defense systems will threaten agreements that have ensured the global strategic balance.

The United States will need between five and seven Ground Based Interceptors (GBI) to intercept one Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile, a Russian military expert said on Tuesday.