Will US ABM facilities be sited in Eastern Europe?

The George Bush Administration is now negotiating the construction of missile-interceptor sites with the Governments of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary behind closed doors; such missile-interceptor site will be constructed on the territory of one of these three countries in line with the US NMD (National Missile Defense) program.

This was disclosed by the Washington-based Arms Control Today magazine in its July/August issue; this magazine is published by the non-governmental Arms Control Association.

According to this magazine, preliminary talks are being conducted in Warsaw, Prague and Budapest. Previously, a hi-ranking Pentagon spokesman noted that the United States might start building its Eastern European ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) base already in 2006, if the talks proved successful.

The magazine quotes Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John R. Bolton as saying that the United States and Poland were now negotiating the possible deployment of missile interceptors and radars on Polish territory. Bolton confirmed this fact, while chatting with reporters in Warsaw May 31, 2004.

Arms Control Today possesses information to the effect that the United States has also launched similar talks with the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The magazine also mentions data from a budgetary request (as regards the financing of the US Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency), which was received by the US Congress this year.

The draft 2005 federal budget requests $35 million for the NMD system's potential third base, noting that the US Missile Defense Agency was preparing to build a third missile-interceptor facility (whenever expedient) outside the United States in 2006.

As is known, two other officially endorsed missile-interceptor bases are located in California and Alaska.

It's still unclear when the US will decide on the third missile-interceptor base inEastern Europe, as well as its possible location, the magazine goes on to say.