Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk leaves for Prague on Thursday to discuss the proposed U.S. anti-missile shield with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.
Head of the Tusk's political advisors Slawomir Nowak told Polish news agency PAP on Wednesday that the Czech side had offered Poland cooperation in negotiations with the U.S. concerning sites for the construction of the proposed anti-missile shield in the two European countries.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek is to pay a visit to Washington at the end of February while Tusk is to pay a visit there in the first quarter of 2008 but no date has been set.
The United States is planning to build an anti-missile system which would include 10 interceptors in northern Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic, to protect the United States and its allies against attacks from what it has called "rogue" states.
Russia, however, is fiercely against such an installation which it says threatens its security.
Tusk's government, sworn in last November, signalizes it will take a tougher stand in negotiations on the shield. Polish government officials have stressed the need for U.S. assistance in strengthening the country's air defense by installing Patriot rockets in Poland.
Tusk made it clear in December that his country will not consent to the U.S. base on its soil unless it gets "one hundred percent" guarantees that it will serve Poland's national security.
Source:Xinhua
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