WARSAW - Poland and the Czech Republic said Monday they would work together in talks with Washington on the missile defence shield it wants to set up in central Europe.‘We are trying to set up an information-sharing system for discussions on this proposal,’ Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said during a press conference with his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski. ‘We have agreed that both countries are likely to give (Washington) a positive answer. Talks will begin after that,’ Topolanek said. ‘It is in our interests to negotiate on this issue. It is in the interests of our countries to host the anti-missile shield,’ he added.
Poland has said that the United States can expect an answer in the coming two weeks. Kaczynski and Topolanek have said that they are minded to approve the US request, although both premiers face opposition at home.
The United States said last month it would soon begin formal talks with Poland and the Czech Republic on deploying a missile defence system in Europe, designed to intercept potential attacks from Iran and North Korea. The system calls for missiles to be deployed in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic by 2012.
Russia has objected to having the shield stationed on its doorstep threatened to pull out of a treaty with the United States limiting short and medium-range missiles. ‘We are trying to convince Russia that the system -- and this seems self-evident -- is not directed against it,’ said Kaczynski.