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Poland Opens Long-Awaited US Missile Base
November 13, 2024
- The Redzikowo base, 230 kilometers (143 miles) from the Russian border, has been operational since July but was officially inaugurated only on Wednesday.
“Through the conflicts which are ongoing right now, the conflict in Ukraine or in the Middle East, we can see how important air defense and missile defense is,” he added.
First announced in 2009, the project was plagued by delays, and Russia has since emerged as the main security concern for the military alliance’s eastern flank.
NATO chief Mark Rutte told reporters in Warsaw the base “significantly enhances our ability to defend against the growing threat of ballistic missiles from outside the Euro-Atlantic area.”
The inauguration comes as Warsaw and its regional allies brace for the US presidency of Donald Trump, who in the past has voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But US Ambassador Mark Brzezinski said at the ceremony he was “confident that this close partnership between our two nations will continue.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski welcomed the project in a post on social media as “proof of the geostrategic consistency of the United States.”
‘Ever More Aggressive’ Enemies
The base is part of a broader NATO missile shield — dubbed “Aegis Ashore” — which includes a system of radars that could intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
Admiral Stuart Munsch, commander of the US naval forces in Europe and Africa, said “building our defenses now is vitally important.”
He said that the initial conception of the long-delayed project was to counter “threats mainly from Iran.”
Uploaded: Nov 13, 2024
Part of NATO’s broader missile shield, the base could alleviate concerns for European security once Trump takes office.
- Despite NATO stating that the Redzikowo facility and a similar system in Romania are purely defensive, Moscow has frequently labeled it a threat.
But US Ambassador Mark Brzezinski said at the ceremony he was “confident that this close partnership between our two nations will continue.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski welcomed the project in a post on social media as “proof of the geostrategic consistency of the United States.”
‘Ever More Aggressive’ Enemies
Uploaded: Dec 13, 2023
The United States and NATO built an air defense system to protect all of Europe from short- and medium-range ballistic missiles launched by Iran. The system is called the European Phased Adaptive ...
Admiral Stuart Munsch, commander of the US naval forces in Europe and Africa, said “building our defenses now is vitally important.”
- “Global adversaries are becoming ever more aggressive, challenging the international order,” he said at the ceremony.
- “While the threat of ballistic missiles is concerning, the technology and the highly skilled operators of this Aegis Ashore site give us confidence in our defense.”
- “There is technological possibility for this system to also be equipped with missiles of a different type that could counter cruise missiles, which would further reinforce our security,” he said.
He said that the initial conception of the long-delayed project was to counter “threats mainly from Iran.”
![DVIDS - Images - Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System Transfer of Authority [Image 4 of 4]](https://d2cto119c3bgok.cloudfront.net/thumbs/photos/2411/8751628/1000w_q95.jpg)
NATO chief Rutte called the base’s opening “an important milestone” but said the alliance would work towards “the full development of a NATO ballistic missile defence.”
“NATO must have the means to address threats from any direction… So we will work on this, step by step,” he told reporters after talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw late Wednesday.
US opens missile defense base in Poland that Russia has long protested
The base was originally intended to protect Europe from Iranian missile threats, but the Kremlin views it differently
Moscow comments on new NATO missile base in Poland
The US air defense facility near Russia’s border is an attempt to deter Moscow’s military potential, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
The opening of a US missile base in Poland is an attempt to contain Russia’s military potential, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.
Washington is set to officially open a new NATO air defense base in northern Poland on Wednesday, as the US seeks to increase its permanent military presence in Europe.
“This is nothing more than an attempt to contain our military potential,” the presidential spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday.
- The missile defense complex in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, which has been under construction since the 2000s, will be the second US base of its kind in Eastern Europe; the first is located in southern Romania.
“Of course, this will lead to the adoption of appropriate measures to ensure parity.”
Peskov noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned for nearly two decades that NATO’s eastward expansion undermines Russian national security. He recalled that Putin had addressed the issue while meeting with then-US President George W. Bush in the 2000s, and that Moscow had insisted “the words of the Americans that all these plans are aimed against the Iranian threat are in fact a lie.”
Dubbed ‘Aegis Ashore’, the US base at Redzikowo is located around 150km (93 miles) from Kaliningrad Region, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.
- The base is part of a broader NATO missile shield which also comprises a second Aegis Ashore site in Romania, a radar facility in Türkiye, a command center in Germany and US Navy destroyers based in the Spanish port of Rota.
“It took some time, but this project is proof of the geostrategic consistency of the United States,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in a video posted to X on Tuesday.
“The Polish-American alliance is strong, regardless of who governs in Warsaw and Washington.”
Russia has also consistently denied any intention of attacking NATO, with President Putin recently describing warnings about Russian aggression toward Western Europe as 'nonsense" aimed at alarming citizens and raising defense budgets in the West.
Uploaded: Dec 31, 2017
INTRODUCTION, Japan is set to expand its ballistic missile defense capabilities with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet approving the procurement of two land-based Aegis Ashore missile ...
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