New US defense site in Poland triggers fresh words from Moscow
A recently-opened US missile shield base near Polands Baltic coast became a hot topic between Warsaw and Moscow. Russian officials listed the facility as a target while Poland stressed its defensive purpose
Last week a brand-new US missile-defense facility opened its doors in the north-Polish town of Redzikowo (just 8 days ago) sparking a back-and-forth between Moscow and Warsaw
This is another frankly provocative step in a series of deeply destabilizing actions by the Americans and their allies
The high-tech base which is part of NATOs multi-country defense system called Aegis Ashore got quick push-back from Russian officials who say it raises nuclear-related risks; however Polish representatives dont agree with this view
Pawel Wronski from Polands foreign office made it clear: the site has no nuclear weapons and works only for defense purposes — but Moscows comments will just make Poland and NATO build up their air-defense even more
The shield system includes:
* Base in northern Poland
* Similar site in Romania
* US Navy ships in Spain
* Early-warning radar in Turkey
Russian officials put the new base on their priority-target list saying they could hit it with modern weapons if needed. The whole situation shows how both sides see things different: where NATO talks about defense Moscow sees a threat to its safety
