Poland welcomes NATO support for missile defense

WARSAW: Poland has welcomed NATO's support for Warsaw's plan to host part of a planned U.S. missile defense shield.Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said that Warsaw negotiated its missile defense deal with Washington with the knowledge that “allies in NATO accept our bilateral agreement”.He said Thursday that NATO first backed the plan during a summit in April. NATO foreign ministers reaffirmed their support this week. The U.S. says the system would include 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic to help protect Europe against potential threats from the Middle East. Russia is opposed to the plans and has threatened to deploy short-range missiles to its westernmost region of Kaliningrad, near Poland.