WARSAW - Poland’s incoming government is ready to continue talks with the United States on a missile defence system but wants to engage European partners in the process, prime minister in waiting Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. Tusk, whose centre-right Civic Platform party won parliamentary elections last month, said Poland and the European Union had to see clear security benefits for Warsaw to agree to host the ‘missile shield’.‘We don’t have a rigid doctrine on this issue. We are open to arguments for and against (the shield),’ Tusk told a briefing for foreign journalists. ‘If the missile shield is going to increase our security, we will be open to negotiations. If we judge jointly with our partners in the EU and NATO that this project is ambiguous, we will have to consider that.’
Tusk has already signalled he would rebalance Poland’s foreign policy more towards the European Union although he stressed on Tuesday the United States remained a strategic ally for the ex-communist nation. ‘The future government will consistently continue the strategy of very close ties with the United States,’ Tusk told a briefing for foreign journalists.