Arms Control & Non Proliferation
Documents & Texts from America.gov
20 August 2008
United States, Poland Sign Missile Defense Declaration
• Declaration on Strategic Cooperation Between U.S. and Poland
• Remarks from Secretary Rice and Polish President Kaczynski
By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
Washington -- A Bush administration plan to locate a two-part, limited missile-defense system in Eastern Europe has taken a giant step forward and when fully implemented will make a substantial contribution to NATO's collective security, the U.S. State Department says.
"It is an agreement which will help us to respond to the threats of the 21st century," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Warsaw, Poland, August 20 after the signing ceremony.
The agreement allows the placement of a U.S. missile-defense base in Poland. It was signed by Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski at a ceremony that was also attended by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Lech Kaczynski. The agreement will have to be ratified by the Polish parliament. A status-of-forces agreement to allow U.S. forces to operate the base will be signed later.
"It is an important step in our efforts to protect the United States and Poland, as well as our NATO allies, from the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles of increasingly greater ranges, lethality and sophistication, and potentially armed with weapons of mass destruction," the State Department said in an announcement.
The interceptor site will be linked to other U.S. missile-defense facilities in Europe and the United States, the announcement said.
Tusk told the Associated Press, "We have achieved our main goals, which means that our country and the United States will be more secure."
Under the European ground-based missile-defense plan, the United States will place an advanced radar facility, known as X-band radar, in the Czech Republic and base 10 missile interceptors, which have no warheads, in Poland. The interceptors are designed to knock down a limited number of ballistic missiles launched from a rogue state such as Iran. The system is expected to be in place by 2012.
The United States July 8 signed an agreement with the Czech Republic allowing the construction and operation of the missile-defense system’s radar station. The agreement must be ratified by the Czech parliament.
In exchange for Poland’s agreement to host the interceptors, the United States will provide Poland with a Patriot air-defense battery that can shoot down short-range missiles and attacking aircraft. The air-defense battery would be operated by about 100 U.S. Army personnel, according to the Pentagon.
RUSSIAN OBJECTIONS
Russia had raised objections to the missile-defense system, saying it was targeted at Russia. But White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the United States has been clear with the Russian government from the outset about the missile-defense basing plan.
Rice said recently she and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have met with their counterparts in Moscow a number of times to discuss the missile-defense plan and have even invited the Russians to participate in a continent-wide missile-defense system.
"In no way is the president's plan for missile defense aimed at Russia,” Perino said. “In fact, it's just not even logically possible for it to be aimed at Russia, given how Russia could overwhelm it. The purpose of missile defense is to protect our European allies from any rogue threats, such as a missile from Iran."
A European-based missile-defense system was discussed by Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at their July 7 bilateral meeting during the G8 Summit in Japan.
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