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Denmark unlikely to join NATO’s missile shield — expert

The European Missile Defense System and its further deployment as an integral part of the US ballistic missile defense poses a threat to Russia’s strategic nuclear forces
Missile launched from the US Navy AEGIS cruiser (archive)  EPA/US NAVY
Missile launched from the US Navy AEGIS cruiser (archive)
© EPA/US NAVY

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Denmark is unlikely to join NATO’s missile defense program, otherwise its ships will become a potential target for the Russian Armed Forces, Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko said on Monday.

Earlier, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics voiced concern over an article by Russian Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin published by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, in which the diplomat dwells on the possible negative effects of the move.

"I believe the Danish political and military leadership will weigh all potential risks and will eventually not join the programs that have a destabilizing effect on the international strategic stability," Korotchenko told TASS.

The expert noted that, if Denmark deployed the Aegis naval system as a component of the European missile defense shield, "it could be absolutely sure that its ships would become a potential target for the Russian precision weapons."

"Any NATO member country that has joined the European Missile Defense System by deploying on its territory ground infrastructures (command centers, interceptor sites, radar), and also having vessels equipped with the Aegis system should be aware that these facilities will be viewed as potential targets for the Russian Armed Forces," Korotchenko said.

According to him, this is due to the fact that the European Missile Defense System and its further deployment as an integral part of the US ballistic missile defense poses a threat to Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.