European missile defense system to protect NATO fully by 2018

The European missile defense system will fully protect the population of NATO countries from external missile threat by 2018, said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said that the missile threat was seen as a real one, against which NATO needs to protect itself. 

According to him, by 2018, the new missile defense system will fully protect the population of Europe and NATO countries.

Rasmussen stressed that the system was purely defensive. He also added that the development of two centers of missile defense - of Russia and NATO - was possible. The two centers, he added, could exchange information, engage in joint training exercises and analyze external threats.

According to the secretary general, the best way to convince Russia of the true purpose of the plan is to have the country involved in this cooperation.