Poland welcomes new US missile plan

MISSILE DEFENSE

Biden arrives in Romania on east European tour
US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Romania Wednesday after a one-day visit to Warsaw where he secured Poland's approval for a new US anti-missile system. Biden's plane touched down at Bucharest airport at 8:30 pm (173O GMT), according to an AFP photographer. Bucharest is the second leg of a three-nation east European tour also including the Czech Republic, aimed at reaffirming the US partnership with the countries in the region. The trip comes a month after Washington shelved a Bush-era missile shield, prompting Czech and Polish media to accuse President Barack Obama of "treachery" and selling out to Moscow. Romanian President Traian Basescu said Biden would "make a particularly important speech on Washington's policies in the region," without specifying and refused to spell out the agenda for their talks on Thursday. He said on state television that they would discuss "subjects which are of great interest for Romania." US officials denied however Biden was on a mission to pacify US partners upset over the decision to ditch the shield. The Bush administration said the shield was designed to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states, namely Iran, but Russia slammed it as a threat to its national security. But Obama said that after a rethink, and the realisation that Iran was developing its own missiles more slowly than anticipated, his administration was opting for a more flexible system. Romania, which was not covered by the first antimissile defense system, welcomed the new plan. "The new system protects the whole of the Romanian territory against possible missile attacks and this is very important," Bogdan Aurescu, a Romanian foreign ministry official, said. In Bucharest, Biden is due on Thursday to meet Basescu and Prime Minister Emil Boc before delivering a key speech on relations between the US and central Europe. Biden will leave Bucharest on Thursday evening heading for Prague.Ukraine not in talks to host part of US misile shield: minister
Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Defence Valerii Ivashchenko on Wednesday denied reports here that his country was holding talks with Washington to host part of a US missile shield. "The message we received from (US Assistant Secretary of Defence) Alexander Vershbow here is that the United Stated are not going to involve non-NATO countries in their anti-missile system," Ivashchenko told AFP. Washington already denied this week reports that it was holding similar talks with Georgia. Ivashchenko, however, hinted on Wednesday that Ukraine was ready to grant the US access to its early-warning radar facilities in Sevastopol to protect against possible missile threats from Iran. "The US side has stated that their intention was to deploy an early warning radar system in Azerbaijan's city of Gabala... In Ukraine we have a similar early warning station located in Sevastopol that is directed towards the Middle East. Its technical characteristics are very similar to the station in Gabala," Ivashchenko said. He, however, added that Ukraine's defence ministry was not currently in charge of these radars and cannot provide details. "It has been several years that this station is working for the national aerospace agency and they (the radars) are not used by the military," the minister said. Ivashchenko played down the question of whether Ukraine was concerned about Russia's possible reaction to its cooperation with the US. "Was Russia worried about it?" he said. The US Assistant Secretary of Defence Alexander Vershbow, who also attended the forum in Sofia on Wednesday, was not available to comment.

by Staff Writers
Warsaw (AFP) Oct 21, 2009
Poland is ready to join a new US anti-missile system replacing a plan fiercely opposed by Moscow, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.

"Poland feels this so-called SM-3 concept, a reconfigured anti-missile system, is very interesting, and needed," Tusk told reporters during a joint press conference with Biden.

"We are prepared to participate in it on the necessary scale," he added.

Biden said he welcomed Warsaw's affirmation that "Poland stands ready to host future elements of the proposed missile defence.

"Poland is one of our closest allies, and a critical partner in facing global challenges," he said. Biden also paid fulsome tribute to Polish troops in Afghanistan, saying "they are warriors doing an incredibly difficult job."

Later, Biden met with Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who told reporters the missile plan could be rolled out in four stages from 2011 to 2018.

In September, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Washington aimed to deploy a new SM-3 anti-missile system in Poland and the neighbouring Czech Republic in 2015.

That announcement came as the administration of US President Barack Obama unexpectedly shelved an earlier plan to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic by 2013.

Russia had reacted angrily to the original US plan -- which was pushed by Obama's predecessor George W. Bush in what Washington said was a drive to ward off Iranian threats -- dubbing the system a menace on its doorstep.

Obama said that after a rethink, and the realisation that Iran was developing its own missiles more slowly than anticipated, his administration was opting for a more flexible system that is expected to include ship-based missile interceptors.

But the shelving of the plan came just two months after Obama and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev agreed at a summit to "reset" US-Russia ties, which had grown increasingly tense under Bush.

The move raised jitters in Warsaw and Prague, which questioned Washington's decision to drop the Bush plan after they had stuck their necks out for the United States and faced the wrath of their Soviet-era master Moscow, which threatened to train its nuclear warheads on their territory in response.

In an interview with the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita published Wednesday, Biden rejected suggestions that Washington had caved in to Moscow in order to win its cooperation for new arms-reduction talks.

"We have struck no deals with Russia at Central Europe's expense. We will strike no deals at Central Europe's expense. We have made clear that our effort to improve our relationship with Russia will not come at Central Europe's expense," he was quoted as saying.

Speaking to reporters, he underscored how much Washington had appreciated Poland's involvement in the shelved plan.

Washington had pledged under the original anti-missile plan to boost Poland's own defences by deploying ground-to-air Patriot missiles in the country. After talks with Polish officials last week in Warsaw, a senior US negotiator said the Patriots would be in place next year.

Poland and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999, 10 years after the demise of their communist regimes ended Soviet control in the region.

Biden arrived late Wednesday in ex-communist Romania -- which joined NATO in 2004 -- before visiting the Czech Republic on the final leg of his tour.

Romanian President Traian Basescu said Biden would "make a particularly important speech on Washington's policies in the region," without specifying and refused to spell out the agenda for their talks on Thursday.

He said on state television that they would discuss "subjects which are of great interest for Romania."

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MISSILE DEFENSE

Biden in Poland, kicks-off east European tour
Warsaw (AFP) Oct 20, 2009
US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Poland Tuesday kicking-off a tour of eastern Europe that critics have mocked as an apology to soothe Poland and the Czech Republic after a Bush-era missile shield was shelved. Biden's plane touched down at Warsaw's military airport at 23:00 local time (21:00 GMT), according to an AFP photographer. Officials deny Biden is on a mission to pacify US ... read more

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