POLAND:Poland and the Czech Republic are to co-ordinate plans to host a US missile defence system and seek security guarantees from Washington, amid fears that the appointment by Russia of a hawkish ambassador to Nato could signal a tougher Kremlin policy towards the bloc.
"We want to co-ordinate our steps and proceedings in the course of negotiations," Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said after meeting Czech counterpart Mirek Topolanek.
They met in Prague as talks gained pace on building a US radar station in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland, which the Pentagon says would work together to detect, track and destroy missiles launched by "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.
Despite widespread public opposition to the plan in both countries, governments in Prague and Warsaw have been keen to host facilities that they insist would cement their good relations with Washington and help neutralise a growing international security threat.
However, Mr Tusk, who took power in November, has made clear that he will take a tougher line in talks with the US than did his predecessor, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and will demand that Washington help protect Poland from possible attack.
Defence minister Bogdan Klich said that during talks in Washington next week he would underline the need for an "accompanying [air defence] package, without which the Polish government's consent for the American installation is really difficult to imagine". Mr Klich said Poland wanted state-of-the-art US missile systems and a specific commitment from Washington to come to Warsaw's aid if it was threatened.
"The key issue would be to include Poland in the US defence system so that our American allies would have a much stronger motivation . . . to come to our aid, should, God forbid, a threat to our security arise."
Despite signs of a slight thaw between Warsaw and Moscow since Mr Tusk came to power, most Poles still fear an angry reaction from Russia if the US missile base is built.
The Kremlin's appointment this week of nationalist firebrand Dmitry Rogozin as its new ambassador to Nato did nothing to ease those fears. "In this critical moment for our fatherland, when it is being decided what path Russia goes down . . . patriots cannot remain indifferent," he said of his appointment.
