Poland plays hardball in talks with US over proposed missile base

POLAND:POLAND IS refusing to reduce its demands in tense talks over hosting a US missile base, despite Washington's impatience to clinch the deal and threats that it might build the facility in neighbouring Lithuania instead.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice plans to visit the Czech Republic next Tuesday to sign an agreement to build a long-range radar, which the Pentagon wants to link to a rocket base in Poland that could shoot down missiles fired from "rogue states" such as Iran.

Ms Rice hopes to go to Warsaw two days later to finalise a deal on the missile base, but talks have faltered over the amount of US aid wanted by Poland to modernise its military hardware, amid Russian threats to aim rockets at the Czech and Polish sites.

"My government is not acting like a naive enthusiast but like a hard negotiator, with the awareness that we are negotiating with friends and our most important ally," said Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.

"Poland's security is a holy thing, and I will not allow for even the smallest mistake to be committed, and that's why the negotiations aren't as simple as they once seemed." With George W Bush in the twilight of his presidency, and uncertainty hanging over whether his successor will support a European missile defence system, the White House is losing patience.

"The Lithuanian prime minister indicated that his government was willing to consider hosting the interceptors," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said on Tuesday, after the Baltic state's premier Gediminas Kirkilas met US defence chiefs.

"Our preference is to work out a deal with the Poles. But . . . Lithuania would geographically serve as a good alternative." Most analysts believe talk of building the base in Lithuania is a bluff to force Poland's hand and ensure that a deal is signed next week.

"Ms Rice will decide whether to come to Poland or not," Mr Tusk countered.

"I warmly invite her, because we would like to continue talks. But it is hard to say whether an agreement will be signed and, for us, provisions guaranteeing our security are of key importance."

The Czech government wants to build the long-range radar near Prague, but a divided parliament is not certain to ratify the deal. Surveys suggest most Poles and Czechs oppose the project, which the Pentagon wants to be operational by 2013.