Russia has reacted to the establishment of a new U.S missile site in Poland saying it would have to increase its own military presence along the border to offset the new perceived danger.
In the midst of simmering tensions over the crisis in Ukraine, Moscow is now threatening to expand its military sites in the area in order to maintain “parity” with NATO.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz formally opened the Redzikowo missile site in the country’s north on November 13.
Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said in a statement that it was “the first permanent US military installation on Polish soil”.
“The project for the base was initiated by former Republican president, George Bush. It commenced under former Democrat president, Barack Obama, continued under Republican Donald Trump during his first term as president and was ultimately completed during the current presidency of Democrat Joe Biden,” the representative said.
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He also explained that the agreement under which the base in Redzikowo had been set up “ensures the missile defence system protects both the United States and Poland”.
Russian President Vladmir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov slammed the inauguration of the new facility.
Russia has consistently opposed the base, arguing that the system it is to use, Aegis Ashore, could be used to launch missile assaults.
Moscow has warned frequently that the construction of the base would lead to retaliation such as the location of additional Russian forces in the enclave of Kaliningrad, which borders Poland and Lithuania.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there has been a consensus in Poland that increasing US presence in the country would serve as a guarantee of national security.
For NATO, the base and the missile shield project it is a part of are important in combating ballistic threats from the Middle East. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they are also meant to increase NATO’s strength on its eastern flank.
Polish military expert Marek Świerczyński of political analysts Polityka Insight said he had doubts about whether the base enhanced Polish security.
The expert warned that the base is concentrated on intercepting and destroying long-range ballistic missiles and does not include the capacity to defend against shorter-range Iskander missiles that could be used tactically by Russia and Belarus.
