Germany cautions U.S. not to split Europe with shield

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany sent a thinly veiled warning to the United States on Saturday not to try to split Europe into "old" and "new" with its plans to deploy parts of an anti-missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In some of the strongest German rhetoric to date on the issue, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was important not to let the U.S. project spark a new arms race in Europe nearly two decades after the end of the Cold War.

"A missile defense system should be neither a cause or pretext for a new arms race," Steinmeier wrote in a contribution to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

"Our top priority remains disarmament and not an arms buildup. We don't want a new arms race in Europe," he said in remarks provided to Reuters ahead of publication on Sunday.

Steinmeier, who is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday in Washington to discuss transatlantic ties, has been one of the strongest European critics of Washington's handling of the missile shield plan.

Last month he delivered an unusual public rebuke to Washington, faulting it for not consulting Russia on a project Moscow sees as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence and an attempt to shift the post-Cold War balance of power.

U.S. officials say extensive talks with Russia took place and the shield would counter threats from what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and not pose a threat to Moscow.

Germany is concerned the issue will cloud its presidency of the EU by highlighting divisions in Europe reminiscent of those that emerged in the run-up to the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003.

At that time, Poland, Britain and others backed the U.S.-led invasion while Germany, France and others opposed it.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously dismissed European countries opposed to the war as "old Europe".

NO "OLD" AND "NEW"

"There is no 'old' and 'new' Europe and nobody should try, based on calculated short-term interests, to create such a split," Steinmeier said in remarks that appeared aimed at Washington.

"NATO is the right forum for this discussion. The goal of the debate must be a common solution that does not provoke anyone."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Poland on Friday and Saturday to press its leaders to back a broader discussion on the missile shield within NATO.

A source within the German delegation told Reuters the Polish government appeared to be open to the idea.

In recent weeks, Polish officials have said Warsaw needs a bilateral security pact with Washington because NATO lacks the resolve to counter serious threats like those which could arise from countries such as Iran and North Korea.