Merkel Coalition Partners Slam US Missile Shield

Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partners criticised at the weekend U.S. plans to put parts of a missile shield in central Europe.

They are saying the project could spark a new arms race reminiscent of the Cold War.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) that rule with Merkel's conservatives, warned Washington in a contribution to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung not to try to split Europe into "old" and "new" with its plans.

SPD Chairman Kurt Beck went further, urging the bloc to unite against a project Russia sees as an encroachment on its former sphere of influence and an attempt to shift the post-Cold War balance of power.

Under the plan, the United States wants to deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2011-12. It says the system is designed to counter threats from so-called "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.

"We don't need new missiles in Europe," Beck told top-selling Bild newspaper, in an echo of the fierce debate in Germany during the late 1970s over the deployment of U.S. Pershing medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

"The SPD does not want a new arms race between the USA and Russia on European soil. Europe must speak with one voice on this," he added.

Merkel was forced into a coalition with the SPD after a narrow election victory in 2005.

Their criticism of the U.S. plan comes a day before Steinmeier is due to travel to Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on issues including the Middle East peace process and Iran's nuclear programme.

It follows a European tour last week by the top U.S. missile defence official, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, aimed at easing concerns on the continent about the missile shield plan.

Merkel, who repaired transatlantic ties after her SPD predecessor Gerhard Schroeder clashed with Washington over the Iraq war, has said she wants a debate on the missile shield within the NATO alliance but has stopped short of criticising the United States outright.

She is concerned the row could overshadow Germany's presidency of the European Union, dividing the bloc and hampering her bid to revive the European constitution.

Merkel is also hoping for U.S. support for her efforts to remove transatlantic trade barriers and forge a consensus on combating climate change within the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations, where Germany is also president.

SPD criticism of the U.S. plan comes amid mounting unease in party ranks with Germany's military commitments abroad, notably in Afghanistan, and with Merkel's push to align Germany with Washington on key foreign policy issues.