Poland expects talks with US on missile defence within "two weeks"

Warsaw - Poland expects the United States to open exploratory talks on the possible stationing of US National Missile Defence (NMD) bases in Poland within two weeks 'at the latest,' Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said Monday in Warsaw.

'The Americans are prepared to present a proposal to begin talks leading to a concrete agreement on building bases in Poland and the Czech Republic,' Waszczykowski told the Polish PAP news agency.

'We are waiting for this concrete proposal,' he said, but declined to make any other official Polish response to the development.

The US has confirmed its intentions to begin exploratory talks on NMD bases with the Czech Republic, according to Monday reports.

Unconfirmed reports last year alleged Pentagon officials had already been scouting the Tatra mountains in southern Poland for possible missile base sites.

Although he appears open to talks on the matter, last year Poland's President Lech Kaczynski expressed doubt over giving the US full sovereignty and diplomatic and legal jurisdiction over any eventual base locations in Poland.

Meanwhile, Polish Defence Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has insisted the US would have to give Poland security guarantees before stationing any NMD bases on its soil.

When asked whether he thought allowing NMD bases to be located in NATO-member Poland could strain relations with Russia, Sikorski has stressed such concerns should be made the focus of debate both with Moscow and other NATO members.

A Russian general quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency Monday said the location of US NMD bases in Poland or the Czech Republic would be an 'obvious threat' to Russia.

Last March Polish media reported that Pentagon experts favoured Poland as a potential location for the overseas portion of the NMD project, dubbed 'Son of Star Wars' by critics.

The US-based NMD plan is designed to protect it and fellow NATO defence alliance members plus Japan from a potential nuclear missile attack by rogue states.

The idea of a national missile defence system first emerged in the US during the Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union. In the 1980s US President Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defence Initiative, popularly dubbed 'Star Wars.'

Since shedding communism in 1989, Poland has been among the closest European supporters of US defence policy. A NATO member since 1999, it was an enthusiastic backer of the US-led 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Source:news.monstersandcritics.com