Paris: France supports a Nato-wide missile defence system and is willing to help fund it, a source in the French president's office said on Friday, dispelling rumours that the country is sceptical.
Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there was broad agreement among member states about the need for a missile defence system, which will be discussed at a summit in Lisbon on November 19 and 20.
"France is not against. It is, frankly, for the system. It complements the nuclear deterrent, which is irreplaceable," said the source. "We are ready to provide financial help as well as technological help."
Rasmussen wants allies to agree to invest Dh1 billion to link their missile defence capabilities with interceptors that Washington plans to deploy in Europe.
The presidential source said the shield was designed to defend the 28-member alliance from an Iranian missile attack - and not one coming from Russia. "For us this anti-missile system is to face Iran and [similar] threats. It's as much for Russia as it is for the EU and the United States," he said.
France, which had earlier questioned details of the plan, was in favour of US proposals for the shield, although it was still too early to discuss who would control it, he added. "[US] President [Barack] Obama's project is more realistic. It will start slowly and cost less," he said. French Defence Minister, Herve Morin, has hinted that the project will be approved in Lisbon, but compared it to the Maginot Line of fixed gun emplacements and fortifications that failed to prevent Germany's invasion of France during the Second World War.
