US missile shield shift irks Poland, Czech

Warsaw (Poland), Sept. 18: The Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern on Friday at the US President Mr Barack Obama’s decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries.

“Betrayal! The US sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back,” the Polish tabloid Fakt said on its front page.

The Polish President, Mr Lech Kaczynski, said he was concerned that Mr Obama’s new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous “gray zone” between Western Europe and the old Soviet sphere.

The Bush administration’s plan would have been “a major step in preventing various disturbing trends in our region of the world,” Mr Kaczynski said in a guest editorial in the daily Fakt.

The US secretary of state, Ms Hillary Clinton, defended the new Obama administration approach to missile defence in Europe, saying it will enhance protection of the US and its NATO allies.

Ms Clinton said Mr Obama’s new approach will improve US capabilities to defend against an Iranian missile threat by building a more comprehensive antimissile system at sea and on land. She said Poland and the Czech Republic are now at the top of the US’s list of candidates to host land-based versions of the new missile interceptor.