RUSSIA WARNS POLAND OVER MISSILE DEFENSE
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on January 9 that Russia hopes to convince Poland in talks slated for January 10 in Warsaw not to participate in the proposed U.S. missile-defense system, which would involve placing 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic, news agencies reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 17 and 19, 2007, and January 8, 2008). The ministry said that it hopes to "help our Polish partners recognize the strategic dangers with regard to U.S. plans to build the third leg of a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe." Moscow expects a "favorable reception" and "constructive dialogue" from Warsaw, the statement added. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will discuss missile defense with Czech officials in Prague on January 10. He told reporters in Warsaw on January 9 that he will visit Moscow on February 9. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski recently said Poland will not make a decision on missile defense until after the 2008 U.S. presidential election lest it irk Russia by agreeing to the project now, only to find that a new U.S. administration is no longer interested in it. Britain's "The Times" wrote on January 10 that "the new message from Poland is that it is going to extract a high price for agreeing to host the controversial U.S. missile shield.... But the bracing new talk from Warsaw points to the bigger problem of Russia, quickly becoming the common factor in apparently separate problems for [Washington] abroad." PM View article... <http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r1249805053>
