Vice President Joe Biden visited Warsaw on Wednesday to propose a missile shield compromise with Poland, which expressed displeasure with President Obama's cancellation of a Bush-era missile shield a month ago, the
New York Times reports. Poland and several other Eastern European nations had been depending on the shield system as a defense against possible future Russian aggression, while Russia had regarded it as a hostile U.S. infringement on its national security.
Biden announced an agreement to place smaller interceptors from the newly reconfigured shield program on Polish soil, which Poland's prime minister called "a very interesting concept and a very much needed one." Biden said that the new plan is superior to the Bush shield and emphasized the U.S. commitment, under NATO, to defending Poland if it comes under attack. "Make no mistake, our commitment to Poland is unwavering," Biden said.
Biden plans to visit the Czech Republic to discuss a similar missile interceptor plan there.
Get the new
PD toolbar!Follow PoliticsDaily On Facebook and Twitter,
and download the new Politics Daily toolbar!