Andrzej Duda has said the Aegis facility at Redzikowo was never about defense against ‘Iranian ICBMs’
The missile defense facility at Redzikowo isn’t about intercepting ballistic missiles from Iran, but about moving Poland into the US zone of influence and away from Russia, Polish President Andrzej Duda has revealed.
The Aegis Ashore facility on the Baltic Sea coast was proposed in the early 2000s, after the US repudiated the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty. Washington assured Moscow at the time that the future bases in Romania and Poland were not aimed against Russia but against “rogue states” such as Iran or North Korea.
Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Redzikowo base on Wednesday, Duda quoted the words of the Polish president at the time, Lech Kaczynski, revealing the real purpose of the missile base.
“Andrzej, these missiles will not defend Poland,” Duda said. “They will actually protect areas far, far away from Poland from missiles that could potentially be launched from Iran, for example. But this will be an American missile base, which will contain some of the greatest secrets of the United States and which the United States will guard.”
“And this is very important, because this American base will be built on our soil, in Poland,” Duda continued, quoting his predecessor. “And from that moment, when this base stands here, the whole world will see clearly that this is no longer the Russian zone of influence. And from the Polish point of view, this is the most important thing strategically.”
Speaking for himself, Duda said he was pleased that the US now had 10,000 troops in Poland and said American soldiers would always be welcome on his country’s soil.
“If somewhere in the world someone is unhappy with having American soldiers and an American base, then come to us, we cordially invite you,” the Polish president said. “We will always welcome you with joy.” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who also spoke at the ceremony, said it was “not a coincidence” that Warsaw and Washington signed the deal for the base just days after the Russo-Georgian war of August 2008.
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called the opening of the base “an extraordinary event in the history of the security of Poland” and further proof that Warsaw “is a good ally” of the US. He noted that Polish troops fought alongside the Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq, even before joining NATO.
Moscow has long maintained that Washington’s claims about the purpose of Aegis bases were disingenuous, and that their real objective was to expand NATO infrastructure eastwards to contain Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia will respond to the opening of Redzikowo by “adopting appropriate measures to ensure parity.”
