US-Polish pact is condition for shield-minister

WARSAW, Jun 6 (Reuters) A bilateral political and security pact between Poland and the United States is Warsaw's main condition for hosting elements of the US anti-missile shield, Poland's deputy foreign minister said today.

''The main condition is that this installation serves Poland's security and this will be ensured by a bilateral political and security pact with the United States,'' Witold Waszczykowski, who is Poland's negotiator on the project, told private radio TOKFM.

Poland expects President George W Bush to give his opinion about such a deal during a visit on June 8.

The plan to place interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic has led to a row with Russia. President Vladimir Putin has threatened to aim Russian missiles at Europe if the US goes ahead with the plan.

Washington says the installation is a purely defensive measure to protect Europe and the US against rogue regimes such as Iran or North Korea. Moscow regards the shield as a threat to its national security interests.

Poland has been a member of NATO since 1999 and the European Union since 2004.

Some Polish officials say that in the face of an identity crisis in the EU and a lack of NATO effectiveness, a stronger bilateral alliance with the US would provide a better source of security for the central European state.

Waszczykowski did not reveal details of such a pact.

Bush visited the Czech Republic yesterday. Poland's Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said today a Czech ''Yes'' to the shield would not have any impact on the Polish decision.

REUTERS HK SSC1308