European allies ask Washington for more protection from Russia

POLAND:Washington's military allies in central and eastern Europe are demanding guarantees of greater protection from the United States amid Russian threats to train missiles on the region.

Poland said yesterday that it wanted a political and security pact with Washington in return for hosting part of a controversial US missile defence system which Moscow says could spark a new arms race and cold war.

President George Bush visits Poland tomorrow and is due next Monday in Bulgaria, where leaders are expected to ask him to assure that their country is covered by the missile shield, which would comprise a long-range radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland.

US troops are to be deployed to bases in Bulgaria later this year.

Witold Waszczykowski, Poland's chief negotiator on the missile defence project, yesterday said: "The main condition is that this installation serves Poland's security and this will be ensured by a bilateral political and security pact with the United States."

His comments came as Polish President Lech Kaczynski flew to Brussels to meet Nato secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to discuss the planned missile defence system, which Washington says will neutralise the threat of rockets launched by "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.

"Nato should provide an equal sense of security for all its members, and we do get a sense of security, but Nato, like any system, can be improved," Mr Kaczynski said.

Some European countries want the shield to be part of an integrated Nato system of missile defence. Surveys in the Czech Republic and Poland suggest people there would be much happier hosting radar and rocket facilities run by Nato rather than solely by the US.

Mr Kaczynski also appeared to support growing calls from Nato members such as Bulgaria and Lithuania for guarantees that they would be protected by the missile shield. "After the completion of the system, all members of the alliance must be totally covered," Mr Kaczynski said.

Bulgarian foreign minister Ivailo Kalfin said this week that his country feared being sandwiched between the anti-missile shield and increasing tensions in Russia.

"Our wish is to not find ourselves in a zone of unequal security," he said. "The next steps regarding anti-missile defence should systematically take into account the principle of the indivisibility of Nato territory."