New Polish Defense Minister Urges Reconsideration of U.S. Missile Defense Proposal

Polish leaders should study further whether involvement in U.S. missile defense plans for Europe is in the country’s best interests, new Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said in an interview published yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 31).

The new government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk has not appeared as supportive as its predecessor about the U.S. proposal for Poland to house 10 missile interceptors, the Associated Press reported.

In negotiations with Washington, Warsaw must “weigh the benefits and costs of this project for Poland,” Klich told the Dziennik daily.  “And if that balance results unfavorably, we should draw a conclusion from those results.”

Officials in Warsaw worry about the effect that Polish involvement in missile defense could have on the country’s strained relationship with Russia, which has repeatedly objected to the U.S. plan (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Nov. 19).

Klich said the United States must be ready to protect Polish air space if it wants the European nation to house its missile interceptors, the Financial Times reported.  The interceptors might make Poland a target for aggression that could be offset by Patriot or Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense systems, according to the government.

“Thanks to them we would be able to better protect not only elements of the shield but also the territory of our country,” Klich said (Cienski/Sevastopulo, Financial Times, Nov. 19).

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