Polish leader confesses actual purpose of US missile base
Date
11/16/2024 9:03:46 AM
(MENAFN) Polish President Andrzej Duda has stated that the purpose of the Aegis Ashore missile defense facility in Redzikowo is not to defend against ballistic missiles from Iran, but to strengthen Poland's alignment with the United States and distance the country from Russian influence. The base, located on the Baltic Sea coast, was first proposed in the early 2000s after the US withdrew from the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty. At the time, Washington assured Moscow that the missile defense sites in Poland and Romania were intended to counter threats from "rogue states" like Iran or North Korea, not Russia.
During the opening ceremony for the Redzikowo base, Duda quoted his predecessor, Lech Kaczynski, who acknowledged that while the base would not directly protect Poland, it would serve to bolster US influence in Europe. The base, Kaczynski had noted, would be an American facility containing significant US military secrets, and its establishment in Poland would signify that the region was no longer under Russia's sphere of influence.
Duda also expressed his approval of the US military presence in Poland, with 10,000 US troops currently stationed there, and emphasized that Polish soil would always be open to American forces. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski remarked that the agreement to host the base came shortly after the Russo-Georgian war in 2008, signaling Poland’s growing alignment with the US. Meanwhile, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz described the base's opening as a significant milestone for Poland's security and as proof of the country's strong alliance with the US.
Moscow, however, has long viewed the Aegis missile defense system as part of a broader strategy to expand NATO’s military footprint eastward and contain Russia. In response to the base's opening, Russian officials, including Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, warned that Russia would take necessary actions to maintain strategic balance.
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