28 September 2007
Defense Minister Maltsaw issues warning to Poland over US missile defense plan
The deployment of US missile defense facilities near Poland’s Belarusian border would lead to “unpredictable consequences” and make Poland a target for potential missile attacks, Defense Minister Leanid Maltsaw warned on September 28.
The Belarusian minister made the remark while meeting with the counterparts representing other member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
“Changing the balance of powers in Europe always leads to unpredictable consequences,” Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying. “It poses the biggest threat to the countries that host such facilities as they are targets of first [retaliatory] strikes.”
The United States is set to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland as part of its plans to build a system that will let it knock out incoming ballistic missiles potentially coming from North Korea and Iran. The plans have sparked vehement objections from Minsk and Moscow, which have promised to take retaliatory steps. //BelaPAN
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