Poland to host US defence shield
The US president and his Polish counterpart have said parts of a missile defence system will be built in Poland despite Moscow's objections.
George Bush and Lech Kaczynski, meeting at the White House, said that the system was not aimed at Russia but at smaller countries such as Iran or North Korea that US officials say pose a missile threat.
Bush said on Tuesday the deployment "would provide a security for Europe from single- or dual-launch regimes that may emanate from parts of the world where leaders don't particularly care for our way of life and/or are in the process of trying to develop serious weapons of mass destruction".
"There's no better symbol of our desire to work for peace and security than working on a missile defence system."
Defence instrument
Kaczynski said: "So it is really a defence instrument, missile defence instrument. And so I do hope that all this project, the whole project will be completed successfully."
The Russian president has never been mollified by that argument and the Kremlin announced on Saturday that Vladimir Putin, the president, had signed a decree suspending Moscow's participation in a post-Cold War security treaty.
In Poland, a survey by a publicly funded institute in Warsaw, said that 55 per cent of Poles oppose putting the base on Polish territory - a drop from the previous month, when 60 per cent were opposed.
Contradictions
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Polish prime minister and the president's twin brother, said on Tuesday that the shield offered Poland a way to strengthen its alliance with the US and guarantee its security against a resurgent Russia, thus contradicting what Bush and Lech had said a day earlier.
"The point ... is the status of Poland and the future of our country - whether we end up back again in the place we were for many years or whether we don't end up there,'' he said, referring to the Cold War era, when Poland was controlled by the Soviet Union.
In recent months, Moscow suggested it would target missiles at Europe if the US went ahead with the proposal for the defence system.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Poland, US say they are moving closer to deal on missile defense
Poland, US say they are moving closer to deal on missile defense
© AP
06.09.2007 19:08:03
(live-PR.com) - WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland and the United States are moving closer to a deal on placing a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, officials said Thursday after a day of talks.
Teams of Polish and American negotiators, joined by lawyers, began two days of negotiations, working through detailed legal issues involved in placing an American base and military personnel on Polish territory.
«We are significantly closer to the conclusion of our talks,» said the chief Polish negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. «And I think over two or three months we will be able to clarify, negotiate and agree and sign the document.
His American counterpart, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Rood, agreed that «we have made some substantial progress.
«Certainly our Polish colleagues are quite capable of being firm and direct when they need to be, but the spirit of discussion is that among allies who are friends,» Rood said at a news conference.
Waszczykowski said the talks dealt with «very complicated legal issues, including those connected to access, operation and functioning of the base.
The talks, which run through Friday, are the third round since Washington asked Warsaw in January to host 10 interceptor missiles as part of what is designed to ultimately become a global shield.
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have voiced strong support for hosting the site. But Poland insists that any deal not harm its security.
A focus of discussion is Poland's insistence that, in return for hosting the site, Washington provide it with some form of additional security _ such as Patriot missiles _ which Warsaw views as needed considering neighboring Russia's outrage over the plan.
During the decades of communism, Poland was a satellite of the Soviet Union. Warsaw feels uneasy over what it sees as Russia's ambition to maintain control over its historical sphere of influence.
The talks come days after Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, warned that Russia remains opposed to having a missile defense site located in its backyard.
«Our partners should understand that we don't bargain,» Lavrov said Monday. «It should be understood that, for all the non-confrontational external policy of Russia, there are so-called 'red lines' for us _ this is when there is a real threat to our national security or to the existing order of international rights.
«Among these are, for example, plans for deploying bases in Eastern Europe for a global missile-defense system by the United States.
The U.S. also hopes to set up a radar base in Poland's southwestern neighbor, the Czech Republic, as part of the system.
© AP
06.09.2007 19:08:03
(live-PR.com) - WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland and the United States are moving closer to a deal on placing a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, officials said Thursday after a day of talks.
Teams of Polish and American negotiators, joined by lawyers, began two days of negotiations, working through detailed legal issues involved in placing an American base and military personnel on Polish territory.
«We are significantly closer to the conclusion of our talks,» said the chief Polish negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. «And I think over two or three months we will be able to clarify, negotiate and agree and sign the document.
His American counterpart, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Rood, agreed that «we have made some substantial progress.
«Certainly our Polish colleagues are quite capable of being firm and direct when they need to be, but the spirit of discussion is that among allies who are friends,» Rood said at a news conference.
Waszczykowski said the talks dealt with «very complicated legal issues, including those connected to access, operation and functioning of the base.
The talks, which run through Friday, are the third round since Washington asked Warsaw in January to host 10 interceptor missiles as part of what is designed to ultimately become a global shield.
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have voiced strong support for hosting the site. But Poland insists that any deal not harm its security.
A focus of discussion is Poland's insistence that, in return for hosting the site, Washington provide it with some form of additional security _ such as Patriot missiles _ which Warsaw views as needed considering neighboring Russia's outrage over the plan.
During the decades of communism, Poland was a satellite of the Soviet Union. Warsaw feels uneasy over what it sees as Russia's ambition to maintain control over its historical sphere of influence.
The talks come days after Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, warned that Russia remains opposed to having a missile defense site located in its backyard.
«Our partners should understand that we don't bargain,» Lavrov said Monday. «It should be understood that, for all the non-confrontational external policy of Russia, there are so-called 'red lines' for us _ this is when there is a real threat to our national security or to the existing order of international rights.
«Among these are, for example, plans for deploying bases in Eastern Europe for a global missile-defense system by the United States.
The U.S. also hopes to set up a radar base in Poland's southwestern neighbor, the Czech Republic, as part of the system.
Poland: U.S. Defense Shield Deal Possible by Year’s End
Poland: U.S. Defense Shield Deal Possible by Year’s End
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, WARSAW
An agreement to install parts of a U.S. missile defense shield in Poland could be reached before the end of the year, Poland’s deputy foreign minister said Sept. 6.
"We are closer," Witold Waszczykowski told reporters at the end of the first day of a new round of talks between the U.S, and Poland on the issue. "I think that in two or three months, those questions can be clarified, negotiated and signed."
Daniel Fried, US assistant secretary of state for European affairs, spoke of a similar time frame during an international forum in Krynica in southern Poland.
Washington wants to site 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of an extended defense shield against airborne attacks, along with a powerful tracking radar in the Czech Republic.
Russia has strongly objected to the U.S. plan and does not accept Washington’s argument that the system is purely defensive and meant to prevent potential attacks from what the U.S. calls "rogue" nations, such as Iran.
Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet Sept. 10 in Paris to discuss Washington’s plans for an anti-missile defense system in central Europe, a Russian foreign ministry official said Sept. 6.
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