The American missile shield – Central European debates
The American missile shield – Central European debates

Summary/Abstract: Warsaw’s strong attachment to transatlantic relations (especially since Poland became a member of NATO and the European Union) acts as a kind of political instrument through which the Polish leadership – whatever its political stripe – seeks to compensate for Poland’s deficiencies, and through which it hopes to raise the country’s real weight in the world, and especially in Europe and its own region. In its decision to accept certain elements of the American NMD system on its territory, Warsaw is undoubtedly also motivated by this compensatory Atlanticism. Through its contribution to the American missile defence system, Poland – whose fate is tied to the EU in the long term – can only avoid the serious risk of becoming isolated within Europe if the project is realized within the framework of NATO and in consultation with Russia. In this case, Warsaw can remain on the well-trodden path followed since 1990, which views security and defence policy as the added value Poland brings to the Euro-Atlantic alliance, and to the European Union.

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