The Redzikowo base is only 230 km from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Moscow intends to take “appropriate measures to ensure parity”.
A base forming part of the American defense system against ballistic missiles, viewed with a negative eye by Moscow, was officially inaugurated on Wednesday in Poland, completing a system already existing in Turkey, Romania and Spain.
“This is an event of historic importance for the security of Poland, the United States and NATO,” said Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz during a ceremony. at the Redzikowo base in the north, in the presence of several other senior Polish politicians and American military leaders.
Operational since last July and integrated into the collective defense project of the Atlantic Alliance, this site is part of a network of radars and missile interceptors, which Washington began to set up fifteen years ago and intended to protect against ballistic missile threats emanating from outside the Euro-Atlantic area, particularly from Iran.
More than 10,000 American soldiers in Poland
Its deployment in Europe has always provoked hostile reactions from Russia, which sees it as a danger for its own security, despite NATO's assurances that it is in no way directed against it.
Moscow protested again on Wednesday against the presence of this base 230 km from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. This strategic and militarized enclave is the headquarters of the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea.
“This is an advance of American military infrastructure in Europe towards our borders” and “this will lead to the taking of appropriate measures to ensure parity,” warned Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov.
Key elements of this anti-missile shield include, in addition to this base in Poland, a similar site in Romania, US Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and an early warning radar in Kurecik, Turkey. More than 10,000 American troops are currently deployed in Poland, one of the countries most supportive of neighboring Ukraine.
