WARSAW (AP) – Poland’s prime minister suggested on Tuesday that Russian opposition to a U.S. proposal to build a missile defense system in Poland stems from Moscow’s hopes to regain influence over its former satellite.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s comments came a day after a Russian general warned that Poland and the Czech Republic risk being targeted by Russian missiles if they agree to host U.S. missile defense bases.
“To make it clear – this is not about Russian security; these installations do not in any way threaten Russia,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on state Radio 1. “It’s about the status of Poland and Russian hopes that the zone, in other words Poland, will once again find itself … in the Russian sphere of influence.”
“From the moment the missile bases are installed here, the chances of that happening, for at least decades to come, very much declines,” he said.
The Soviet Union dominated Poland for 45 years – from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War in 1989.
Kaczynski and his Czech counterpart, Mirek Topolanek, indicated on Monday that they were ready to work out the conditions under which the U.S. would put interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.
But Russian missile forces head Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said in Moscow that the U.S. plan could upset strategic stability in the region.
“If the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic take such a step … the Strategic Missile Forces will be capable of targeting these facilities if a relevant decision is made” he said.
On Tuesday, Kaczynski dismissed Solovtsov’s warning as “an attempt to frighten” Poland.
U.S. officials say that the 10 proposed interceptors – designed to stop a launch from the Middle East – are not aimed at Russia.
Russia, with a large nuclear arsenal, could easily defeat such a small system simply by launching more than 10 missiles.
