A base that is part of the US missile defense system, which Moscow frowns upon, was opened today in Poland, for to supplement the system that already functions in Turkey, Romania and Spain, reported France Presse, reported BTA.
"This is an event of historical significance for the security of Poland, the United States and NATO," Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kośniak-Kamis said during a ceremony at the Regzikovo base in the presence of senior Polish politicians and American military leaders.
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The base has been operational since July last year and is part of the Atlantic Alliance's collective defense project. It is part of the network of radars and anti-missile defense systems that Washington began building fifteen years ago to protect against ballistic missile threats coming from countries outside the Euro-Atlantic area, notably Iran.
Its deployment in Europe has always provoked a hostile reaction from Russia, which sees it as a threat to its own security, despite NATO's assurances that it is in no way directed against it. Today, Moscow again protested against the presence of the base, located 230 km from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the ceremony as bringing US military infrastructure in Europe closer to Russia's borders and assured that Moscow would take appropriate measures to maintain the balance of power. 10,000 US soldiers are already stationed in Poland, AFP recalls.