Deployment of American Missiles in Poland is questionable

The issue of deployment of an American anti-missile defense system in Europe is becoming more heated. Negotiations between the USA and Poland have concluded and the USA has announced that preliminary agreement has been reached. This information has not, however, been confirmed by the Polish government who say they have not yet made a final decision.

The current situation regarding the issue of deployment of American anti-missile defense in Europe can be characterised as: ‘A lot of unofficial information, media speculation and statements of politicians and experts’. All this speculation has been provoked by statements of American officials and diplomats. The latter confirm that there is a preliminary agreement from the Polish side to host elements of American air defense on their territory. Thus, Bruce Armstrong, from the European Division of the State Department stated in an interview with the Polish Information radio-agency, that the negotiations were moving in the positive direction.

Bruce Armstrong: “We have achieved a preliminary agreement however it will require the ongoing support by the Polish government. I may say that we are very pleased with the course of the negotiations and with the results achieved, however, I can not be more precise regarding when the process of negotiations will end”.

The Polish government has not confirmed this information. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski could not confirm the information related to the agreement between the US and Poland regarding the deployment of the elements of the American air defense system in Poland.

Witold Waszczykowski: “We completed this stage of negotiations. All substantive results and assessments were submitted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Prime Minister. No further comment. For us, official confirmation regarding the issue would be a statement by the Foreign Minister or the Prime Minister”.

There were no statements in this regard from neither the Prime Minister, nor the Foreign and Defense Ministers. There is only the statement that a phone conversation between the Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Vice-President of the USA, Dick Cheney took place on Monday night. This fact was confirmed by the Head of the information bureau of the Polish government, Jacek Filipowicz.

Jacek Filipowicz: “Negotiations regarding the issue of the deployment of anti-missile defense system are still ongoing. I may only say that a phone conversation took place. It started at 20.35 in the evening and lasted 40 minutes. Both sides, the Polish Prime Minister and the American Vice-President discussed the negotiation stage regarding the issue of anti-missile shield”.

The result of the phone conversation between both politicians is unknown. Unofficial sources say that the Polish Prime Minister expressed his discontent with the American proposals. Discontent due to the fact that the Poles were linking the deployment of the American air defense system with assistance in modernization of the Polish Army. In particular, the Poles were counting on receiving several batteries of MIM-104 “Patriot” missiles with an overall cost of 1-2 billion US dollars. In the mean time the USA proposed that Poland deploy only one set of ‘Patriot’ missile under American control and 40 million US dollars a year for the military assistance.

There is a lack of clear information on the matter: what are the American proposals and what is the Polish government reaction to them, which lead to indignation of the Parliamentary opposition. The Head of the Union of the Left Democratic Forces (SLD) party, Grzegorz Naperalski, is striving for a special hearing in the Seim regarding this issue.

Grzegorz Naperalski: “No one informs us about the course of the negotiations that relate to National security. This trade is happening on the territory of the United States or somewhere behind closed doors”.

The government is being criticized by the opposition right wing party “Law and Justice” (PiS) as well. However they pay more attention to the fact that the government is delaying a decision on the issue of the anti-missile shield. It is well-known that the PiS and the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, are linked to this party and support deployment of the American air defense system on the territory of Poland. From their point of view the existence of such system in the country would be of the great significance for national security and they believe there is no need to concentrate on details. The Chairman of the National Bureau for Security under the auspices of the Polish President, Stanislaw Stasiak, says:

Stanislaw Stasiak: “We have to give an answer to the questions regarding the implementation of one of the very important elements of the Polish-American strategic partnership, fortification of the Polish sovereignty and improvement of the Polish positions in Europe now. The issue of the anti-missile shield should be interpreted in this context and not within the context of jokes and meaningless statements”.

Experts in their turn criticize both the Polish and the American positions. Mr. Woicech Luczak from the magazine “Raport” believes that the situation around the issue of anti-missile shield is a result of the fight of American lobbyists.

Woicech Luczak: “The United States is experiencing a very serious fight for funds and political influence at the moment. Poland is only one of their points of concern. In case Poland agrees to place the shield fast and before the end of the Presidential term of the Republican President, the profits of lobbyists would be huge, if it does not agree, then their profits would be questionable. If I were the Polish Prime Minister, I would wait and then say that we would not be satisfied with the proposals by the American side. If the existing administration can not realize the importance and the value of the issue with the shield, we should continue negotiations with the next administration”.

Perhaps, the Polish government supports this point of view. Perhaps, that is the reason behind the stubborn silence of the Polish leaders. On Tuesday, there were several meetings in the Secretariat of the Prime Minister and the Polish President related to the issue of deployment of the American air defense system in Poland. The Polish Prime Minister later on stated that Poland addressed the US once again with a request to increase its security in connection with the American project of anti-missile shield. This indicates that the negotiation process is not over yet.