Polish PM: US missile defense should be part of a NATO, EU security system

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Poland's prime minister argued Friday that any US missile defense site built in his country eventually should be part of a NATO and European security system. The United States wants to place 10 missile defense interceptors in northern Poland and a radar system in the neighboring Czech Republic as part of a system which, it says, is necessary to protect the US and Europe against future attacks from Iran. "I want to stress that it matters to us very much that the issue of defense systems - including the missile defense installations - in the long run be an element of a NATO, European and Euro-Atlantic security system," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after meeting with his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico. Tusk said he informed Fico, who opposes the US missile defense plans, of developments in Poland's negotiations with Washington on possibly hosting elements of what would be a global system. "We want to build an atmosphere of mutual trust round the issue," Tusk told reporters. "The basis of trust is transparency and information."