(Edits)
By Gareth Jones and Jan Lopatka
WARSAW/PRAGUE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. decision to scrap
missile defence plans in Poland and the Czech Republic does not
threaten the NATO allies' security, but some fear it shows U.S.
regional commitment is cooling while Russia is more assertive.
President Barack Obama announced on Thursday he was dropping
a plan to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar
system in the Czech Republic; parts of a missile shield intended
to protect the United States and its European NATO allies
against possible attack from Iran.
Moscow, the region's former overlord, had opposed the plan.
"I think we have to approach this decision with calm. The
U.S. president has changed and so has U.S. foreign policy. I
don't think the enemy is just outside our gate," said Iwona
Jakubowska-Branicka of Warsaw University.
"I don't think this decision directly impacts Poland's
security status ... There is no sense in building a sense of
danger from Russia. It's a different world now. Russia cannot
just enter Poland (or) take part of the Czech Republic."
Both Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush, whose
administration strongly pushed the shield plan, had argued that
it was not aimed against Russia, noting that 10 interceptors
would be no match for Moscow's vast nuclear arsenal.
But the Kremlin viewed the shield as a direct threat to its
national security and before Obama took office Russia threatened
to install ballistic missiles in its Kaliningrad enclave
bordering Poland and Lithuania if the project went ahead.
Moscow said it would welcome any revision of the plans.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington would
now initially deploy Aegis ships equipped with missile
interceptors and that negotiations were underway with Warsaw and
Prague about deploying land-based interceptors later.
The Polish and Czech currencies were unmoved by Thursday's
news. Public opinion, especially in the Czech Republic, has
generally not been very supportive of the shield plans.
"I am glad the radar will not be here. First, we will not be
dependent on the Americans, and it is good for Russia because it
will not have to be worried," said Martin Entlich, 33, a shop
assistant in a grocery store in Prague.
"UNSTABLE" RUSSIA?
Not all reaction in the region was so relaxed, however.
Former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Toplanek, whose government
signed the missile defence deal last year, said Obama was
showing a softer stance towards Moscow when Russia was behaving
"in a very untraditional and unstable way".
"This is bad news ... after 20 years of our path into
Euro-Atlantic structures and our very active involvement there,
the process is being halted," Toplanek said.
Poland and the Baltic republics, in particular, have been
disturbed by what they see as Russian "neo-imperialism" in
Moscow's dealings with ex-Soviet republics such as Georgia.
In an open letter to Obama in July, senior figures from the
region including Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and Poland's
Lech Walesa urged him not to be swayed by Russian objections in
making his decision on the missile shield.
A recent poll by the German Marshall Fund, a think-tank,
showed western Europe, or "old Europe" in ex-U.S. defense
secretary Donald Rumsfeld's dismissive phrase during the Iraq
war, is now more pro-American than Poland or Romania.
Many Poles feel Obama does not understand their
sensitivities, often rooted in historical tragedy.
Polish officials noted the timing of Thursday's
announcement. September 17 marks the 70th anniversary of the
Soviet invasion of eastern Poland following a non-aggression
pact between Moscow and Nazi Germany; an event long
characterised by Poles as "a stab in the back".
But analysts say Poles, Czechs and others in the region need
to take a more hard-headed approach to security issues.
"COLD SHOWER"
"We Poles tend to blame Americans for our own failures. I
think it is good the Obama administration has behaved so clearly
... We need a cold shower when it comes to national security,"
said Olaf Osica, a security analyst at Warsaw's Natolin European
Centre.
"We are still a NATO member ... lots of things link us (with
the United States), including our forces in Afghanistan ...
Missile defence has nothing to do with Polish security."
Echoing that comment, Adam Jasser of the DemosEuropa
think-tank said this was an opportunity to "reset" relations
between central European capitals and Washington.
"In a sense, the end of the missile project may be a
catalyst for reforging of ties (with the United States) along
perhaps less romantic and emotional but more pragmatic and
natural lines," he said.
(Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Jon Hemming)
