POLAND:Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has said he will abandon plans to host part of a US missile defence shield if it endangers his country's security. His remark is an indication of growing Polish scepticism towards the defence project agreed to by the previous administration.
The US project foresees the deployment of 10 long-range missiles on Polish soil and the construction of a radar station in the neighbouring Czech Republic. Washington says the shield will protect the US and its allies from what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
Until now, Poland's new centre-right government had been non-committal about the project, suggesting it would wait and discuss the project with the next White House administration.
However, last weekend foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski indicated a change in approach, telling Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper that the shield was "an American, not a Polish project".
"We don't feel threatened by Iran," he said.
Mr Tusk followed up yesterday, saying that he would drive a harder bargain with Washington on the shield, "directly tied to increasing Poland's security".
Poland, he said, "has not received assurances or a guarantee that hosting a missile defence base in Poland - an American missile defence base - will increase the security level of our country".
Polish defence minister Bogdan Klich suggested that Polish participation would be dependent on the US agreeing to help boost Poland's air defences. "The decision on the shield will be taken in Poland and its main criterion will be the national interest," he said yesterday.
The previous Polish administration said it was in Poland's national interest to host the missile shield as an insurance policy against Russia. That approach prompted concern in other EU states, as well as a furious reaction from Moscow.
Mr Tusk's remarks yesterday reflected his stated ambitions to rebuild trust with EU neighbours and to defrost Poland's chilly relations with Moscow.
After taking office, Mr Tusk dropped Poland's objections to allowing Russia to join the OECD. Days later, Moscow announced it would end a long-running import blockade on Polish produce.
Meanwhile, Poland has said it is prepared to boost its military presence in Afghanistan, a month after it announced a withdrawal of its 900 soldiers from Iraq.