Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
International Herald Tribune
April 22, 2008 By Judy Dempsey
WARSAW--Neither NATO nor the European Union can provide sufficient security to calm Poland's fears, particularly with Russia now resurgent to its east, and so the government in Warsaw wants the United States to base part of its planned antimissile system here to provide an American guarantee of safety, according to Poland's defense minister.
Wedged between Germany and Russia and wiped off the map by those countries in centuries past, Poland has long had fears for its security. After the collapse of communism, it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999 and the EU in 2004. Now, with Russia richer and more confident than in a decade, Poland seeks extra protection, said the defense minister, Bogdan Klich.
"We have a reduced level of security," Klich said during a wide-ranging interview in his Warsaw office. "The lack of the Polish feeling of security is provoked by the tendencies in Russia over the past few years."
The Czechs have similar fears, and this month at the NATO summit meeting in Romania they concluded talks with the United States on the antimissile system, even though it is ostensibly not intended to protect against Russia.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has loudly opposed the deployment of U.S. interceptors in Poland or radar systems in the Czech Republic. Polish and Russian defense experts say Moscow's concern is having a U.S. military presence so close to Russia.
In Warsaw, the government, led by Donald Tusk's center-right Civic Platform, does not believe that Russia would attack Poland with missiles. It sees pressure coming from a different direction: energy.
Depending so much on Russia for its energy, Poland feels vulnerable as Russia seeks to use its powerful energy resources as a foreign policy tool. That is one of the main reasons the Polish government wants the missile shield on its territory: The presence of U.S. troops would act as a deterrent.
Poland might not have lobbied hard to be the host of part of the missile shield if NATO and the EU had had a strong visible presence in Poland in the first place.
"The distribution of NATO institutions in Europe is not balanced," Klich said. "The majority of the NATO and the EU institutions are located in the western part of Europe. "That is the reason why we began those talks with the Americans over missile defense.
"It is necessary to host on our territory institutions either from the alliance, the EU or the United States. These are the three pillars of our security."
Warsaw is striking a hard bargain and is not in a hurry to wrap up the talks, according to Klich, who was interned during martial law in 1981 because of his "anti-socialist" activities and went on to become a foreign policy expert at Krakow University.
"The government wants the best terms possible," he said, "because hosting the U.S. missile defense system carries risks. We are absolutely convinced that with the presence of an American infrastructure on our territory, it will create new challenges and maybe new threats for our security."
As a result, he said, Poland wants the United States to help finance the upgrading of Poland's defenses to deal with new threats. Some Polish military experts put the modernization figure at $20 billion.
Klich would not say how much the modernization would cost or when the talks would end. "We can continue negotiations with the next administration," he said.
Klich said the outcome of those talks would influence Polish public opinion, which is still opposed to the missile shield.
"About 15 percent of Poles would support the American installation of the shield in Poland, without any other contributions," he said. "But 50 percent would support such an installation if it contributed to the modernization of our armed forces."
The sense of insecurity may seem at odds for a country that is now the sixth largest in the EU and has been part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, where Poland commanded one of the sectors. It will end the Iraq mission this year but will increase the number of troops serving with NATO forces in Afghanistan, where it will take responsibility for Ghazni Province in the east. Poland has nearly 4,000 troops serving in NATO, EU and UN missions.
Often criticized by some of its EU partners for being too pro-Washington at the expense of loyalty to Brussels, Poland is shaking off this image. Klich said he was convinced that the EU should raise its defense capabilities and military ambitions, even if that meant establishing a separate command and planning cell independent of NATO.
The United States has said it is slowly coming around to accepting this development - having so long seen an independent EU defense policy as either weakening the cohesion of the trans-Atlantic alliance or as competing with NATO.
"A stronger EU defense and security policy is a logical development," Klich said.
April 22, 2008 By Judy Dempsey
WARSAW--Neither NATO nor the European Union can provide sufficient security to calm Poland's fears, particularly with Russia now resurgent to its east, and so the government in Warsaw wants the United States to base part of its planned antimissile system here to provide an American guarantee of safety, according to Poland's defense minister.
Wedged between Germany and Russia and wiped off the map by those countries in centuries past, Poland has long had fears for its security. After the collapse of communism, it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999 and the EU in 2004. Now, with Russia richer and more confident than in a decade, Poland seeks extra protection, said the defense minister, Bogdan Klich.
"We have a reduced level of security," Klich said during a wide-ranging interview in his Warsaw office. "The lack of the Polish feeling of security is provoked by the tendencies in Russia over the past few years."
The Czechs have similar fears, and this month at the NATO summit meeting in Romania they concluded talks with the United States on the antimissile system, even though it is ostensibly not intended to protect against Russia.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has loudly opposed the deployment of U.S. interceptors in Poland or radar systems in the Czech Republic. Polish and Russian defense experts say Moscow's concern is having a U.S. military presence so close to Russia.
In Warsaw, the government, led by Donald Tusk's center-right Civic Platform, does not believe that Russia would attack Poland with missiles. It sees pressure coming from a different direction: energy.
Depending so much on Russia for its energy, Poland feels vulnerable as Russia seeks to use its powerful energy resources as a foreign policy tool. That is one of the main reasons the Polish government wants the missile shield on its territory: The presence of U.S. troops would act as a deterrent.
Poland might not have lobbied hard to be the host of part of the missile shield if NATO and the EU had had a strong visible presence in Poland in the first place.
"The distribution of NATO institutions in Europe is not balanced," Klich said. "The majority of the NATO and the EU institutions are located in the western part of Europe. "That is the reason why we began those talks with the Americans over missile defense.
"It is necessary to host on our territory institutions either from the alliance, the EU or the United States. These are the three pillars of our security."
Warsaw is striking a hard bargain and is not in a hurry to wrap up the talks, according to Klich, who was interned during martial law in 1981 because of his "anti-socialist" activities and went on to become a foreign policy expert at Krakow University.
"The government wants the best terms possible," he said, "because hosting the U.S. missile defense system carries risks. We are absolutely convinced that with the presence of an American infrastructure on our territory, it will create new challenges and maybe new threats for our security."
As a result, he said, Poland wants the United States to help finance the upgrading of Poland's defenses to deal with new threats. Some Polish military experts put the modernization figure at $20 billion.
Klich would not say how much the modernization would cost or when the talks would end. "We can continue negotiations with the next administration," he said.
Klich said the outcome of those talks would influence Polish public opinion, which is still opposed to the missile shield.
"About 15 percent of Poles would support the American installation of the shield in Poland, without any other contributions," he said. "But 50 percent would support such an installation if it contributed to the modernization of our armed forces."
The sense of insecurity may seem at odds for a country that is now the sixth largest in the EU and has been part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, where Poland commanded one of the sectors. It will end the Iraq mission this year but will increase the number of troops serving with NATO forces in Afghanistan, where it will take responsibility for Ghazni Province in the east. Poland has nearly 4,000 troops serving in NATO, EU and UN missions.
Often criticized by some of its EU partners for being too pro-Washington at the expense of loyalty to Brussels, Poland is shaking off this image. Klich said he was convinced that the EU should raise its defense capabilities and military ambitions, even if that meant establishing a separate command and planning cell independent of NATO.
The United States has said it is slowly coming around to accepting this development - having so long seen an independent EU defense policy as either weakening the cohesion of the trans-Atlantic alliance or as competing with NATO.
"A stronger EU defense and security policy is a logical development," Klich said.