Missile Defense Negotiations Resume in Warsaw

2 October 2007

File photo: Lead U.S. negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State John Rood, and the lead Polish negotiator, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, during a press conference in Warsaw on September 6, 2007.

U.S. and Polish negotiators met October 2 and 3 in Warsaw in a fourth round of discussions regarding construction of a missile interceptor site in Poland as part of the Ballistic Missile Defense system.  The U.S. delegation was headed by Assistant Secretary of State John Rood, while the Polish side was led by Witold Waszczykowski, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Earlier this year, the United States proposed building a site of ten missile interceptors in Poland as part of a European component for missile defense against the emerging threat of ballistic missiles launched from the Middle East.  Formal negotiations between Poland and the U.S. began in May of this year.  When asked if it was not possible to finish negotiations before the upcoming elections, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Kenneth Hillas stated that "it was never foreseen that we would finish by October... the polish negotiator talked about finishing by the end of the year.. (but) that was before the decision was made to go to early elections."  Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried stated that "for political reasons, as elections approach, the next round of negotiations will likely have to wait until a new government is formed. We will have to see what it will be like, but we want to move on (with the negotiations). When Poland is ready for the next round, we will be also ready."