Post by justjohn on Oct 21, 2009 5:53:00 GMT -7
BBC NEWS
US Biden visit to reassure Poles
By Adam Easton
BBC News, Warsaw
US Vice President Joe Biden is in Poland on the first leg of a tour to reassure European countries of continued US commitment to the region.
Mr Biden will visit three Central and Eastern European countries.
He is expected to give officials in Warsaw more details of Washington's revised missile defence plans.
The US decision to scrap Bush-era plans to build a defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic caused some alarm in those countries.
The White House's decision to reset its relations with Moscow, which had vehemently opposed the plan, led some to wonder whether Washington was still listening to Central and Eastern Europe's concerns about Russia.
Mr Biden will be doing his best to allay such fears.
He will also have an offer for the Poles to host a small but permanent US military base equipped with mobile anti-ballistic missiles in northern Poland.
It is part of America's new flexible missile defence plan and, if Warsaw agrees, the missiles could be installed by 2015.
Poland is keen to host either Nato or US military installations because it believes they would improve its security.
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