Poland and Czech Republic are in favour of hosting a proposed US missile defence system, the Czech prime minister said today after meeting his Polish counterpart.
The United States said last month that it wanted to build a missile defence system in Eastern Europe to guard the eastern United States and Europe from missiles launched from "rogue nations" in the Middle East. It would be the first such site in Europe.
"We agreed that both countries will probably give a positive response to the US letter, and only then will we open negotiations," Mirek Topolanek said after talks with Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
"I think it is in our joint interest to negotiate this initiative and to build in our area the missile defence," he said.
Mr Kaczynski said last week he supported the US proposal to build missile interceptors in Poland and an accompanying radar site in the Czech Republic.
The US plans have drawn the ire of Russia, however, which says such a missile defence could disturb the balance of power in the region and fuel a new arms race.
But Mr Kaczynski brushed aside the Kremlin's fears, saying: "The missile defence is not directed against any normal state."
AP