Warsaw - Poland and the United States on Wednesday signed a
deal to set up a missile defence base on Polish soil, part of a
planned US system in eastern Europe that has inflamed tension with
Russia.
After more than a year of tough bargaining, Poland formally agreed
to host 10 US missile interceptors in return for a pledge of American
military aid, including a battery of Patriot air defence missiles.
'It is really not just a historic occasion, but an extraordinary
one,' US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after she and
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski signed the deal in Warsaw.
'Our countries, Poland and the United States, will be more
secure,' said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The Czech Republic is to host the other part of the system, a
tracking radar near the German border. If parliaments in both nations
agree, the two former Soviet-bloc nations will get their first
US bases.
Last week's news that Polish and US negotiators had an accord led
to speculation that Russia's invasion of Georgia spurred Poland to
close the deal.
Russia has fiercely opposed the planned shield, despite repeated
US assurances that it would defend Europe and the United States
against missile threats from 'rogue nations' like Iran, not target
Moscow's strategic nuclear arsenal.
Poland bargained hard for US military aid, particularly for a
boost in its air defences after Moscow threatened to target the
planned missile-shield bases in its former satellites.
The interceptors are designed to destroy incoming intercontinental
ballistic missiles in space. In contrast, the Patriots sought by
Poland are theatre defence weapons with a range of about 70
kilometres.
Earlier, Rice insisted that the missile shield posed no threat to
Russia.
'We're talking about a missile defense system that couldn't
possibly be aimed at the Russian nuclear deterrent,' she told the
BBC on Tuesday. 'Russia has thousands of nuclear warheads. This is
for small missile attacks of the kind that Iran might launch.'
The Pentagon expects the missile shield to be in full operation
by 2013. To blunt Russian fears, the US offered Russia to join the
project or inspect the planned sites.
Sikorski last week renewed 'our offer' for Russian inspections. He
also reached out to Moscow, while denouncing its 'brutal' assault in
Georgia.
'When the smoke has cleared after the battle, we will stay
neighbours,' he wrote in the Polish daily Fakt.
While the US plan has been unpopular among Czechs and Poles,
latest polls in Poland show that opinion had swung in favor of the
shield in the wake of the fighting over South Ossetia between Russia
and Georgia.
Many Poles view Russia's military incursion into Georgia as
proof that Poland needs a strong defence.
In a sign that Poland's government - although more EU-friendly
than the previous one - wants stronger ties with the US, the
agreement included a pledge of US military cooperation sought by the
Poles.
The document says the US is 'committed to the security of Poland
and any US facilities on the territory of Poland,' Tusk told the
signing ceremony.
The Bush administration began sounding out Poland and the Czech
Republic about four years ago. Formal talks with Poland began in May
2007, but they hit a snag after Tusk came to power in November and
sought an improved deal for Poland.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski called the signing an 'important
day' in Polish history during a televised address to the nation
Tuesday.
Poland had taken a step to 'strengthen its position in the world'
by sealing the agreement with Washington, he said.
USA
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