Waiting for an Offer from the U.S.

Poland and Central Europe are expecting strategic assurance from the USA, namely the increase of NATO military presence in our region. In the mean time, six U.S. soldiers are stationed in Poland, Chief of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski said yesterday. Sikorski has taken part in the discussion about U.S.-Central European relations organized by the Polish Institute of International Matters and the prestigious Center of Strategic and International Studies. In a reply to Sikorski’s words, Philip Gordon, the assistant Secretary of State of the USA for Europe declared that assurance will come in the form of batteries of SM-3 rockets positioned in Poland in a few years’ time. This is in accordance with Obama’s new plan for the anti-missile shield and shipment of Patriot rockets to Poland. Sikorski has acknowledged that “if the new shield comes into existence, it will be more favorable than the old Bush plan.” He also added that “other ways for American presence in Poland” are possible. He said he was in talks with Washington, but gave no details.

At the end of his visit to the USA, Sikorski met General James Jones, national security adviser to President Barack Obama. After his meeting with Jones, Sikorski mentioned also that he and the Americans agree that the new strategy in Afghanistan should be a common decision among NATO nations and not made by a single member-state.

It was his most important conversation in Washington because yesterday’s meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was cancelled due to her extended stay in Middle East where she is trying to save the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.