Europe

Home page

Europe

NATO Allies Appeal for U.S. to Ratify Start Treaty

20 November 2010 20:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Six North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies Saturday made a coordinated appeal to the U.S. Senate to quickly approve President Barack Obama’s nuclear-arms-control treaty with Russia, asserting that Republican opposition to ratification is putting their security at risk, APA reports quoting â€œThe Wall Street Journalâ€.
The appeal for ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was made by the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lisbon.
Mr. Obama has already tried enlisting Republican icons such as Henry Kissinger and James Baker, along with a platoon of military leaders.
Saturday’s NATO appeal for the Start accord was closely coordinated with the White House. The six foreign ministers dropped by during a briefing for reporters traveling with Mr. Obama. Senior Obama administration officials stood on the stage and in the audience.
Start supporters hope the appeal from European allies, particularly those bordering Russia, will help blunt opposition from Republicans such as retiring Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, who has cited concerns that Mr. Obama’s outreach to Moscow could diminish the national security of "our friends and allies throughout Europe."
"For us, it’s European security that is at stake," Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said.
The foreign ministers said failure to ratify the accord would set back the West’s dealings with Russia on multiple fronts, including future efforts to limit conventional forces and battlefield nuclear weapons on European soil.
"Don’t stop Start before it’s started," said Nickolay Mladenov, the Bulgarian foreign minister.
Republicans have continued to throw up roadblocks to the pact.
On Thursday, 10 Republicans who will take Senate seats next year released a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid demanding that treaty consideration be delayed until the next Congress.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), who is leading the push to delay consideration of the treaty, said he needed more assurances that money promised for modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal will materialize. Treaty ratification needs 67 Senate votes, or at least nine Republicans.
The White House says delaying a decision until the next Congress convenes would delay consideration of the treaty indefinitely. New senators would demand hearings and briefings. The treaty has already been the subject of 18 Senate hearings, dozens of staff and member briefings, and 20 personal phone calls and meetings between senators and the president and vice president, according to the White House.
The treaty would cap the two nations’ deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550 a side, down about a third, and limit warhead launchers to 700 a side.