Warsaw Waiting for US Response on Missile Defense
Source: Al-Manar TV, 18-7-2008
Poland is awaiting a response to its demands for extra security guarantees from the United States in exchange for agreeing to host a US missile shield, a Polish foreign ministry spokesman said Friday.
"We're waiting for a response from Washington at the highest level, the schedule for further talks in the working groups depends on that," Poland's foreign ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said Friday.
Warsaw has been lobbying Washington to provide a Patriot-type air defense system in exchange for a Polish green light for hosting the controversial US missile shield, a project endorsed by NATO but vehemently opposed by Russia.
The spokesman confirmed Warsaw was still expecting the response on the "sum of our demands - an important element is the permanent stationing of Patriots," he said.
The United States wants to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the neighboring Czech Republic by 2011-13 to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states, notably Iran. The shield would complete a broader US system already in place in the United States, Greenland and Britain.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sealed the main radar agreement with Czech Republic on July 8, but the Czech parliament must still give the project a final green light. Paszkowski's comments came on the heels of a Friday Polish newspaper report citing unnamed Polish government sources detailing the state of negotiations.
Washington's talks with Warsaw have been grinding on since May 2007. After July 10 telephone talks with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week Warsaw was sticking to its demands for a permanent US air defense presence guaranteeing Poland's security.
Poland is awaiting a response to its demands for extra security guarantees from the United States in exchange for agreeing to host a US missile shield, a Polish foreign ministry spokesman said Friday.
"We're waiting for a response from Washington at the highest level, the schedule for further talks in the working groups depends on that," Poland's foreign ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said Friday.
Warsaw has been lobbying Washington to provide a Patriot-type air defense system in exchange for a Polish green light for hosting the controversial US missile shield, a project endorsed by NATO but vehemently opposed by Russia.
The spokesman confirmed Warsaw was still expecting the response on the "sum of our demands - an important element is the permanent stationing of Patriots," he said.
The United States wants to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the neighboring Czech Republic by 2011-13 to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states, notably Iran. The shield would complete a broader US system already in place in the United States, Greenland and Britain.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sealed the main radar agreement with Czech Republic on July 8, but the Czech parliament must still give the project a final green light. Paszkowski's comments came on the heels of a Friday Polish newspaper report citing unnamed Polish government sources detailing the state of negotiations.
Washington's talks with Warsaw have been grinding on since May 2007. After July 10 telephone talks with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week Warsaw was sticking to its demands for a permanent US air defense presence guaranteeing Poland's security.
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