Bush to lobby EU over defence

Bush takes his fight for NMD to the EU

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- U.S. President George W. Bush travels to a European Union summit where he will continue to press the case for his missile defence system.

Bush will on Thursday go to Gothenburg, the second-largest city in Sweden, the day after he met NATO leaders in Brussels, Belgium.

The U.S. president faces an uphill task in persuading the EU to accept the defence plan, which is dependent on abandoning the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty (ABM).

After meeting NATO allies, he conceded there was "some nervousness" but that he was "making progress" and that fears were being allayed when the scheme was explained.

But his diplomatic lobbying during the five-day European tour, which is due to reach its climax on Saturday when he holds his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was dealt a blow from Moscow.

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Kremlin officials poured cold water on Bush's attempts to foster a new period of détente by insisting on Wednesday that the U.S. plan posed a threat to global security and that other options should be considered.

Igor Sergeyev, an adviser to Putin, said Moscow was still determined to retain the ABM treaty and that Russia's position was "categorical and unchanged."

In Brussels, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also said that important questions about the technical feasibility of the plan remained.

In another rebuff to the U.S. defence plan, French President Jacques Chirac said the ABM treaty, which outlaws missile shields, was a "pillar" of global security.

He called for an increase in efforts to stop the spread of ballistic missiles "irrespective of action taken regarding the anti-missile project."

Bush addressed 19 world leaders attending an informal summit at NATO's headquarters.

The president praised NATO's work in defeating communism and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.

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But he added: "We must strengthen our alliance, modernise our forces and prepare for new threats.

"Now we have a great opportunity to build a Europe whole, free and at peace, with this grand alliance of liberty at its very core."

He said the U.S. administration was not asking its allies to sign up to anything specific, but was asking for a change in thinking on where new threats came from.

He said the the ABM Treaty was now "a relic" and that the Cold War "had to be abandoned."

He said the U.S. would collaborate with its allies as well as Russia in developing a missile defence scheme.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said his colleagues welcomed the "important opportunity" to question Bush on missile defence.

Lord Robertson added: "NATO is embarking now on a major thinking process about the challenges we face and the best means of addressing them. These consultations will continue and they will deepen."

Speaking later on CNN's Insight programme, Lord Robertson said the U.S. Government had presented in "robust" its view that "the ABM treaty is an obstacle."

He added: "Obviously that is not necessarily shared by everybody at the moment but as the debate goes on and as the thinking developes I think that (NATO) allies may well come to conclusions that are more relevant in the 20-20s than to 1972.

"The United States is going to engage with Russia -- they, afterall, own the ABM Treaty between them -- to see whether the Russian can be engaged in this thinking process as well.

"Having spoken to President Putin in the last few months I know that he does want to engage and has thoughts that are broadly similar to the President of the United States."

Other issues on the agenda were NATO enlargement, a European rapid reaction force and the fighting in Macedonia.

On Macedonia, Bush said: "We agree we must face down extremists in Macedonia and elsewhere who seek to use violence to redraw borders or subvert the democratic process."

But, he added: "Most people still believe that there is a political solution available before troops are committed.

He also pledged to keep U.S. forces in the Balkans while NATO had a part to play in the area.

Bush will fly to Sweden after which he will visit Poland and Slovenia, where he will meet Putin on Saturday.