DATE=5/8/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=EURO / U-S MISSILE SHIELD (L-only)

NUMBER=2-275800

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE=BRUSSELS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Two senior U-S officials have briefed NATO ambassadors on President Bush's plans for a missile-defense system. V-O-A correspondent Roger Wilkison reports their visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels was the first stop on a European tour aiming for allied support of the controversial program.

TEXT: America's NATO allies generally accept that the threats to strategic stability perceived by Washington in pressing ahead with the anti-ballistic missile shield are real. But they also worry about the implications the plan may have for arms control.

U-S officials say that is why the Bush administration kicked off its diplomatic drive to gather support for the program at NATO. Marc Grossman, the U-S undersecretary of state for political affairs, says the most important point of President Bush's speech outlining the program last week was a guarantee that the allies will be consulted.

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We are here to describe the thinking of the United States, but also to hear back from our NATO allies about their thinking.

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Mr. Grossman describes the reaction by allied ambassadors as positive, although he acknowledges that not everybody agrees on every single aspect of the threat and how the West should respond to it. Still, he says, the allies recognize that, in terms of strategic stability and deterrence, we are living in a new world.

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The world of 2001 is not the world of 1972. The world has changed. Russia is not our enemy, and there are some pluses and minuses to that new world - and the minuses have to do with proliferation and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

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/// OPT /// Diplomats from two NATO countries said they listened attentively to Mr. Grossman's presentation but remained noncommittal about the missile defense shield, which is designed to meet threats from countries like North Korea and Iraq - nations that Washington has described as rogue states. /// END OPT ///

Steve Hadley, President Bush's deputy national security adviser, accompanied Mr. Grossman. The two men have split up to brief individual European governments on Washington's ideas about missile defense. Another top-level team is visiting Asia.

NATO Secretary General George Robertson said U-S efforts to open a dialogue with the allies on the missile defense plan are welcome.

Asked if Washington expects its allies to contribute financially to the initiative, Mr. Grossman says decisions about how the shield will operate, when it will be deployed and how much it will cost have yet to be made. (Signed)

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