Prague wants missile role

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic says it wants access to U.S. military research and a role in developing missile-defense technology as part of any deal allowing Washington to deploy a missile-defense system in the country.

In Warsaw, a senior U.S. diplomat sought to address concerns of Poland over the plan.

“One of our requirements is to be able to take part in development and research,” Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said in Prague. “We want to be among those countries that will be able to benefit from the results of the U.S. military industry and some of its technologies.”

Mr. Topolanek met this week with Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, to discuss the proposed shield.

Gen. Obering said the United States intends to sign a contract with a consortium of Czech universities, the Academy of Sciences and other institutes, to study Czech industrial, research and technical capabilities in areas related to missile-defense technologies and industrial cooperation.

Washington wants to place 10 missile-defense interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the neighboring Czech Republic as part of a system it says is necessary to protect against attacks from Iran.

An increasingly assertive Russia, however, is incensed by the prospect of U.S. installations in a region that it controlled during the Cold War, and has threatened to attack the bases — causing deep anxiety in Poland.

Daniel Fried, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, reassured Poland on Thursday that Washington is taking steps to cooperate more with Russia and NATO on the plans.

“In the course of our discussions over the past many months, Poland has made some suggestions that we take seriously,” Mr. Fried told reporters in Warsaw. “Poles have urged us to seek to work with Russia cooperatively on missile defense, and we have done so.”

“Of course, Poland has never urged us to give Russia a veto over this program, but it is reasonable for Poland — as well as other European countries — to encourage us to seek to work with Russia,” Mr. Fried said after two days of meetings with Polish leaders.

Mr. Fried added that Poland has encouraged Washington to “increase NATO’s role in the mission, and that “we have done so.”

Amid concerns over Russia, Poland has asked the United States to strengthen Poland’s short-range and midrange air defenses — in the form of Patriot or THAAD missiles — as part of any deal.

“We did not interpret Polish suggestions as suggestions that Poland be paid off for missile defense but rather as serious suggestions from a serious ally to deepen military cooperation,” Mr. Fried said.

There is some concern in both Central European countries about a strain in ties with Russia if they agree to the U.S. plan — only to see the next U.S. government scrap it after taking office next year.

Mr. Fried sought to reassure European leaders. “There is more bipartisanship on this issue than is commonly admitted publicly in Washington,” he said. “I do not think it likely that the next administration would undo what is done here.”