Time to Conclude Talks Over Missile Shield

The developments of the past couple of days on the international arena in regards to the installment of the missile shield in Poland have been dynamic. Without a doubt, the most important occurrence was the NATO declaration, which gives its blessing for the Polish-American alliance in the missile shield enterprise. Polish and Czech critics state that there are two strongly countering forces in the shield discussion and that the shield is being thrust forward in Poland through Washington in spite of these countering forces, primarily between the US and Russia.

The second occurrence was the end of talks between Washington and the Czech Republic. The third development was a peak in discussions over Russia. When speaking with Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, two months ago Bush said that the “Russian situation” would be handled by the US. Even though talks between both American and Russia parties did not reach an agreement, the Americans sent Russia a clear signal: we respect what you have to say about the missile shield and it’s possible threat to you, but we’re building the shield anyway. It’s evident that Bush needs to build a base in Europe, and he knows that he does not have a lot of time.

Meanwhile, preliminary polls of individuals involved in the Poland-US talks indicate that last weeks rounds in Warsaw ended without having achieved much ground. After so many rounds of talks, it’s necessary to say that this is a fairly miserable result.

Both sides are at fault. Americans have been playing the role of the ideal good uncle from overseas, who became bitter after the ungrateful behavior of his Slavic brother. For many months the US felt that, “We want to help protect you from the threat in the Near East, and you are still holding out your palm for more money,” in relation to previous Polish actions to the US. Yet, when many months passed and the uncle from the West was not persuading their little Polish brother, the Americas began to change their tone. It suddenly became evident to the US that the Polish requests for financial and military help were justified. This was undoubtedly a success of Polish diplomacy.

The important issue now is that success be achieved. It seems that the Polish side always has the same problem that it had at the beginning of negotiations—it doesn’t know exactly what it wants and whether it can really trust the Americans. Washington is clearly inclined to have a framed agreement signed that would determine the terms and scale of help it can give in order for Poland to agree to the missile shield, but would leave the methods of help to be determined in the future. This solution seems favorable for Poland because it isn’t very specific and who’s to say Patriot aircraft would be better than military technology or intelligence information. This can be determined in the future when the need arises. The problem is that this agreement requires that one side completely trust the other.

Hence, the time for finalizing an agreement is dwindling. The fall will bring many political changes in the US, specifically the election for the White House and Congress, and the end of the year will bring the concluding days of the Bush administration. If there is no agreement before then, nothing may come of all this. If this happens, our relations with Washington will not last much longer.