The first of four US Navy destroyers, the USS Donald Cook, set to be a cornerstone of NATO’s European missile defense shield has arrived at the Spanish naval port of Rota, its new home. Russia says the system is a direct threat to its security.

The USS Donald Cook will be joined by three more Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, which all are fitted with the Aegis weapon system. Over the next two years the USS Ross, USS Porter and USS Carney will all be based at Rota in southern Spain.

“For the first time, a ship of the United States Navy equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile-defense system is permanently based in Europe,” said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General. “The arrival of the USS Donald Cook marks a step forward for NATO, for European security, and for transatlantic cooperation.”

• Rasmussen was a strident critic of the welfare state
• Rasmussen is in favour of centralisation, privatisation
• He favours lower taxes and less government interference in corporate matters
• Commonly regarded to have been inspired by the success of Tony Blair
• His governments depended on the support of Dansk Folkeparti (the Danish BNP/UKIP)
• As Prime Minister, Rasmussen strongly supported the 2003 Iraq War.

Russia will not allow any nation to dominate it in military terms, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said in a December speech to the country’s Federal Assembly.

“We realize clearly that the AMD system is only called defensive, while in fact it is a significant part of the strategic offensive potential,” he said.

Putin also announced that Russia is pouring resources into new strategic missiles as well as their launch systems, including new nuclear-powered submarines and strategic bombers as well as a space-based system for reconnaissance and targeting.