Warsaw - Prime Minister Donald Tusk Friday met with residents
near the future site of the US anti-missile shield, reassuring them
the military base posed no danger or damage to local tourism.
'Places like Redzikowo or Slupsk perhaps will arouse more interest
in the event of a conflict,' Tusk told residents during a town-hall
style meeting in northern Poland. 'But for certain they'll be better
protected than any other place in Poland.'
Tusk said the shield's installation would help development in the
region, and would not damage tourism, reported the Polish Press
Agency.
'It wouldn't occur to me not to come because there's an
installation,' Tusk said. 'Rather, more people will come.'
Asked why there was no local referendum before their small town was
picked as site, Tusk said this was because the shield was
'strategically important for Poland'.
A group of young people held a protest, PAP reported, and sat
outside the facility with their mouths taped, displaying signs like,
'Has nothing to say,' '60 per cent of the public equals trash,' and
'Once Moscow, today Washington.'
Poland recently agreed to host part of the US system in return for
military aid, capping more than a year of tough bargaining in a
project that has infuriated Russia.
The US broke deadlock in negotiations by agreeing to permanently
base Patriot air defence missiles in Poland and offering a pledge of
close cooperation in case of military threats.
The US says the system is meant to defend against missile threats
from 'rogue states' like Iran and North Korea. Russia vehemently
opposes the shield, saying it is aimed against Moscow's arsenal of
strategic nuclear missiles.
The Czech government agreed in July to provide the site for a
tracking radar. Missile defence is deeply unpopular among Czechs and
Poles, with polls showing most opposed to the US bases.
But recent polls have shown the Polish public becoming increasingly
supportive of the shield after the Russia-Georgia conflict.
Some 58 per cent of Poles now support Pentagon's plan to base 10
missile interceptors on Polish soil, said a poll recently taken for
the Rzeczpospolita daily.
USA
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