Securing a fair deal
The issue of placing a US missile shield in Poland continues to loom large in Polish headlines. Some, however, claim that there is insufficient debate on the matter, given that it concerns the safety of all Poles.
"We have the impression that what is going on ... is happening behind our backs," said Artur Goliszewski, the president of the Business Centre Club (BCC), at a discussion panel on the missile-shield issue organized last week by the BCC.
Another speaker at the BCC's forum was Bronisław Komorowski, one of Civic Platform's leaders and a former Minister of Defense. "Only a fool would say this does not give Poland anything. Still, we definitely know too little to say 'yes' to the shield," he said. Komorowski stressed that insufficient knowledge on the issue is making more and more people skeptical about both the project and US-Polish relations as well.
Another problem is Poland's stand in negotiating with the US. "We are weakening our position in the discussion, said Komorowski. "We are adopting the position of a petitioner," he added, pointing out that it is the US representatives who should have come to Poland for preliminary talks, not the other way around. In his view, Poland should not make itself too dependent on the US' budget timetable either.
Janusz Zemke, a former Deputy Minister of Defense, noted that it is not just the government, but the whole Sejm which will take responsibility for the shape of the final agreement.
"This is a bad deal to make," opined Professor Roman Kuźniar, a former head of the Polish Institute of International Affairs. "We should stop thinking in terms of the Cold War," he suggested.
Witold Waszczykowski, a Deputy Foreign Minister, pointed out that neither the EU nor NATO is able to guarantee Poland's security now. "Still, the US-led shield system is open," he noted, "and every NATO member is welcome to join in."
The experts agreed that Poland should not expect much material profit from the installation. However, they stress that in return for hosting the missile launchers, the US should guarantee Poland a certain level of security, mainly from Russia, which has raised serious objections to the project.
