Russia Reacts Strongly to Deployment of US Missiles in Poland

In December 2009, Poland and the US signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) regulating the status of US troops stationed in Poland including the location of Patriot missiles off Kaliningrad. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Russia has objected to the deployment of Patriot missiles by the United States in Morag, Poland.

A battery of US surface-to-air missiles Patriot was stationed Tuesday in the northern Polish city of Morag, 60 km from the Polish-Russian border under an agreement between the US and Poland from December 11, 2009.

The agreement was ratified by the Polish Sejm in February, and provides for a temporary US military base in Morag which is to become permanent in 2012.

“Missiles will be rotated in and out of Poland over the next two years for training in their use. Each rotation will be accompanied by 100 to 150 U.S. Soldiers,” explained Andrew Paul, spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Poland.

However, on Wednesday, the Russian Federation reacted by criticizing the move and warning about the effects that it will have on regional security.

“The deployment of American Patriot missiles on the territory of Poland does not favor the security and relations of trust,” states the position of the Russian Foreign Ministry as cited by ITAR-TASS.

Russian officials say they have posed numerous questions about the relocation of the military base far from the border, but neither the Americans, nor the Poles have replied.

The official Polish position is that the choice of Morag, which is very close to Russian Kaliningrad, is due to good infrastructure in the region, and not to strategical or political reasons.

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