Poland and the United States have signed a deal to deploy part of a US missile shield on Polish territory in the face of deep Russian anger. "This will help us to deal with the new threats of the 21st century, of long-range missile threats from countries like Iran or from North Korea," the US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said before she signed the accord with the Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski. The signing comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Nato, and Russia over the conflict with pro-Western Georgia. But Ms Rice again sought to fend off criticism. "It is defensive and is not aimed at anyone," she said. "It is nonetheless a system that establishes firmly again, and reaffirms, our co-operation and relationship with Poland. It will deepen our defence co-operation and it will deepen our ability to deal with threats." The Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said the deal "achieved the basic aims that mean Poland and the United States are more secure". Washington plans to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland plus a radar facility in the neighbouring Czech Republic between 2011 and 2013. Both hosts have been Nato members since 1999 and the missile shield will complete a system already in place in the US, Greenland and Britain. Russia has rejected the US argument that the shield, which was endorsed by all 26 Nato member states earlier this year, is meant to fend off potential missile attacks by what Washington calls "rogue states". Moscow claims the timing of the deal is further proof the system is aimed at Russia ? a suggestion rejected by Washington. Moscow had already dubbed the shield a security threat designed to undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent. "We will be forced to respond to this adequately. The EU and US have been warned," the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said last month as the missile talks moved to a close. Last week, the Russian general Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Poland was making itself a target "100 per cent". The Polish president Lech Kaczynski hit back in a televised address yesterday, saying his country would not give in to threats. "No one can dictate to Poland what it should do. That's in the past," Mr Kaczynski said. "Our neighbours should now understand that our nation will never give in, nor allow itself to be intimidated," he added. The missile plan foresees the deployment of several hundred US troops in Poland to service the shield facility as well as the Patriot missiles, which will gradually be turned over to the Poles once they have been trained to use them. Washington and Prague sealed the radar deal in July. Both accords must still be ratified by Polish and Czech parliaments. *AFP
US and Poland sign missile defence deal
The signing comes in the face of deep Russian anger and at a time of heightened between the Nato, and Russia.
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