Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski

The strategic relationship between the United States and Poland continues to develop in the area of missile defense, Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski said during a January 31 speech at AEI. A resident fellow at AEI from 2002 to 2005, Sikorski also addressed issues of transatlantic relations and the role of NATO.

Poland has many reasons for a warm relationship with the United States, not least the longstanding U.S. support for democracy in Eastern Europe. Poland has reciprocated by participating in NATO missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Sikorski said that "NATO's central role in providing security for the transatlantic community" has been influential in "widen[ing] the area of stability and peace in Europe." Furthermore, Poland has supported the mission in Iraq from day one.

A central issue in U.S.-Polish relations right now is missile defense. The two countries have for years been in discussions about building a missile interceptor base in Poland as a defense against potential ballistic missile threats from the Middle East. Sikorski emphasized the Polish desire to host the base in order to improve the defense of the United States and its European allies, strengthen NATO, and increase Central European defense cooperation. "If well managed," he said, "the [missile defense] project may serve the security of all."

But some of Poland's neighbors oppose locating a missile defense base there and have exerted political pressure to prevent its installation, Sikorski added. Therefore, he said, "what we expect from the United States is solidarity--solidarity, a word that we in Poland treat particularly seriously." He concluded that Poland, "on the border of the alliance," situated between mature democracies that respect human rights and countries where democracy and the rule of law are not guaranteed, keenly feels the need for NATO protection and U.S. friendship.

For a video and transcript of this speech, visit www.aei.org/event1647/.