The United States intends to propose locating 10 so-called missile shield bases in EU and NATO member Poland and an unspecified number of radar stations in fellow member the Czech Republic, Poland’s TOK FM commercial news radio station reported Jan. 30, quoting a senior US Pentagon official.
According to TOK FM, talks with the US on the stationing of National Missile Defence (NMD) bases in Poland are to begin within weeks.
Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga confirmed Polish experts were currently analysing a US proposal to install US National Missile Defence (NMD) bases in Poland, but insisted “we are not ready to make any decision.”
Official bilateral talks on NMD are to begin in Washington in mid-February, Poland’s broadsheet Rzeczpospolita daily reported, quoting two unnamed senior Polish officials.
Unofficial consultations were conducted over the last year, according to the daily, which also reports Polish experts are currently analysing a written proposal recently forwarded by the US.
Unconfirmed reports last year alleged Pentagon officials had already been scouting the Tatra Mountains skirting the Polish-Czech border for possible missile base sites.
Poland’s Minister of Defence Radoslaw Sikorski recently said Poland would not turn down any US request for negotiations regarding the stationing of National Missile Defence (NMD) anti-missile shield bases in Poland, but the outcome of any such talks is still an open 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. Sikorski previously insisted the US would have to give Poland security guarantees before stationing any NMD bases on its soil.
Polish media have suggested this means Poland will be demanding the installation of US Patriot anti-rocket missiles in order to protect its own territory from possible attack.
Last March, 2006, Polish media reported that Pentagon experts favoured Poland as a potential location for the overseas portion of the NMD missile shield project, dubbed "Son of Star Wars" by critics.
A senior Polish official on Feb. 1 cast additional doubt on US hopes to base anti-missile defences in the country, saying Warsaw had not given its final approval of the plan, and suggesting a national referendum on the proposal.
Andrzej Lepper, Polish deputy prime minister, made the remarks during a live interview with the Ukrainian Channel 5 television. He was in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on a private visit, the news channel reported.
“There is the general opinion that Poland has given its approval,” Lepper said. “But Poland has not officially agreed.”
“It (the US plan) should be decided on in a national referendum,” he said.
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 first emerged in the US under Republican President Ronald Reagan during the Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union. His Strategic Defence Initiative, was popularly dubbed "Star Wars."
Since shedding communism in 1989, Poland has been among the closest US allies in Europe. A NATO member since 1999, it was an ardent supporter of the US-led 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq.
A 53-per-cent majority of Poles oppose the possible installation of US missile shield bases on Polish soil, while only 34 per cent support the idea, according to a survey published in the Zycie Warszawy daily.
The independent Warsaw-based pollsters Pentor found an additional 19 percent of respondents said they were “rather” opposed to the possible installation of such US bases, while 13 percent had no opinion on the matter.
Source:neurope.eu, 
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