Bad omens for American anti-missile shield talks

Polish Minister of Defense Aleksander Szczyglo and the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates agreed during yesterday's meeting that the shield has to increase the security of Poland. However, "For the time being, the US did not offer us anything else apart from the location of anti-missile shield elements on our territory," stated Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Witold Waszczykowski. The Polish side expect that Poland will be considered one of the closest allies of the USA and will receive additional security guarantees. However, the Americans refuse to agree to base Patriot missiles in Poland which would ensure additional protection. The Polish government declare that the location of the anti-missile shield in Poland is far from being certain. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A6) E.B.