Nato allies Poland and the United States signed a deal on Monday for the stationing of US airforce personnel on Polish soil, a symbolically important move for Warsaw as it keeps a nervous eye on neighbouring Russia. The accord, endorsed by US President Barack Obama during his visit to Warsaw late last month, provides for the establishment of a small air detachment to train Polish pilots in use of F-16 warplanes and C-130 transport planes.
"This memorandum of understanding means that by the end of 2012 we will have in Poland a detachment allowing for the permanent rotation of American military aircraft, both combat and transport aircraft," Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said. "From 2013 we plan the regular and periodic presence of aircraft and the training of pilots four times a year," Klich told reporters after the signing ceremony with the US ambassador to Poland, Lee Feinstein. Poland, a Nato member since 1999, has long lobbied for "American boots on the ground" to counter what it perceives as a more assertive Russian stance in central and eastern Europe.
The US military is rotating a Patriot battery through Poland as part of efforts to upgrade Polish air defences. During his visit to Warsaw, Obama and Polish leaders also reaffirmed plans for Poland to host SM-3 interceptors from 2018 under a revamped US missile defence programme. Nato has invited Russia to take part in the project, which is meant to shield Europe from short and medium-term ballistic missile attack from countries such as Iran.
Moscow is concerned that the plans may undermine its own large nuclear arsenal and wants a bigger say in the deployment. Like Obama, Poland has sought a "reset" of its long-chilly ties with Russia but the two former Cold War partners remain divided over such issues as Nato enlargement - strongly supported by Warsaw - and missile defence.
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