Poland PM seeks U.S. missile guarantees

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Poland's prime minister is seeking a U.S. guarantee a European missile defense system will serve Polish national security interests.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Polish Super Express newspaper he won't accept the deployment of a U.S. interceptor missile base on Polish territory unless Washington provides a 100-percent guarantee of "our security," the Warsaw Voice Online reported Monday.

Tusk hasn't elaborated what security guarantees he has in mind.

Tusk's stand was in collision with that of his predecessor Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who had supported U.S. plans to build the 10-interceptor missile base in Poland and its radar site in neighboring Czech Republic as a defense shield in Central Europe.

No U.S.-Poland talks on the missile shield has been conducted since mid-November when Tusk took the prime minister's office.

Late in November, Tusk announced he would like to discuss the U.S. missile defense system with Russia, which has been opposing the Washington idea.

Washington denies Moscow's claims the missile shield in Central Europe would pose a threat to Russia, arguing the defense system will be aimed against such countries as Iran or North Korea.