IHT 06 Luglio 2008

WARSAW, Poland (AP): Poland's prime minister said Friday that the latest U.S. offer to persuade his country to accept a missile defense facility is unsatisfactory, but stressed that he expects negotiations to continue.

Donald Tusk said that any deal must increase Poland's security. He said his government believes that the latest offer, made earlier this week, does not fulfill that requirement.

However, Tusk made clear that Warsaw's decision was not a final rejection of the U.S. plan to place 10 missile defense interceptors in Poland as part of a shield against a possible Iranian attack.

"I wouldn't talk about the end, suspension, or interruption," he said at a news conference. "Negotiations, in my opinion, are continuing."

In the U.S., White House spokesman Scott Stanzel also said that "discussions will continue with the Poles on missile defense and other issues."

Russia has vehemently opposed the U.S. plans to place the site in Poland, as well as a linked radar-tracking system in the Czech Republic, and has threatened to target both countries with missiles of its own.

Without citing Russia's opposition to the plan explicitly, Tusk argued that placing a missile defense facility in Poland, a Soviet satellite during the Cold War, would create new security threats.

"The installation of the missile shield in Poland increases above all the security of the United States. That's important for us, for the whole world," Tusk said. "However, the fact that the installation would be built on Polish territory also increases certain risks and threats for Poland."

So far, "in the key issue of increasing Poland's security, we didn't achieve a result that would be satisfactory to Poland," Tusk said. "We are waiting for an answer and declaration from the U.S. side on this key demand."

Poland has demanded the additional security guarantee of a short-range Patriot missile battery on its soil.

Tusk said the latest U.S. offer fell short because it proposed placing a Patriot missile battery in Poland only temporarily, rather than permanently, as Warsaw has demanded.

"Air defense elements that would specifically defend Polish territory are absolutely key for Poland," he said. "A temporary visit by such weapons, guaranteed only for one year, naturally does not increase our sense of security."

Tusk did not say whether there were other sticking points.

Poland's announcement delivers a potential setback to U.S. President George W. Bush's plans to secure the European missile defense system sites before he leaves office in January.

Still, plans for the Czech portion of the proposed shield are progressing more smoothly.

On Friday, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said his government will sign a deal with the U.S. next week on installing the radar in the Czech Republic.

His government said Washington is expected to be represented at the signing by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a visit to the country.

However, such a deal still requires the approval of the Czech parliament, and it remains unclear whether the measure would pass. Missile defense is deeply unpopular among the Czech public, and the vote is parliament is expected to be extremely close.

Tusk stressed that Poland is open to a more generous U.S. deal.

"We are ready at any time to accept changes, corrections, proposals from the U.S. side that take into consideration our demands on strengthening Poland's security," Tusk said. "That can be tomorrow, in a week, in a month."

"I'm ready to close these negotiations under the one condition — an obvious one from my point of view — that the Polish side receives a real security guarantee in the event of the implementation of this project."

In Washington, Sean McCormack, a U.S. State Department spokesman, issued a statement Friday saying an agreement would benefit Poland and NATO, whose nations recently "endorsed this effort and spoke of its importance to the security of the alliance."

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Associated Press writers Ryan Lucas and Monika Scislowska contributed to this report.

Source >  IHT.com