Negotiating the price of friendship

The latest round of negotiations on the US missile shield started last Wednesday, and American financial aid for the Polish army was one of the key issues under discussion. There is some concern, however, as to whether the American side is offering enough.

"The talks are on how to help the Polish army adjust to the new reality of Polish-American cooperation and how to help [the Polish army] function in NATO," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski, the head of the Polish negotiation team, told the press.

Concerns were raised after the US president asked Congress for $20 (zł.44.5) million to help modernize the Polish armed forces, a sum which experts in Poland considered far too low. Poland had expected the US to give $20 billion in military aid as well as to provide Patriot missile batteries and to help modernize Poland's air defenses.

"We expect the US to play a more active role in the modernization of the Polish army. This, and not [tourist] visas, is the most important issue in the bilateral relations. This will be proof of our actual partnership and a tangible gauge of our friend's intention," Radosław Sikorski, the minister of foreign affairs, said last week during his first address in the Sejm.

The issue has been further complicated by a comment from a high-ranking US official who anonymously told Reuters that the US would seek another site for the anti-missile base if the talks ultimately failed.

Washington wants to deploy 10 interceptor rockets in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a global defense system against long-range ballistic missiles. The US Senate Committee on Armed Services doubled the funds for the construction of the anti-missile shield on May 1, meaning that $712 (zł.1,584) million has now been dedicated to the project.

Meanwhile, Russia is strongly opposed to the construction of the anti-missile base and has demanded that its inspectors be allowed access to the sites if construction takes place.