(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Polish adults have not changed their minds about their country's participation in a defence plan proposed by the United States, according to a poll by CBOS. 56 per cent of respondents oppose the deployment of an anti-missile shield on their soil, up one point since July.

In December 2002, U.S. president George W. Bush announced plans for the development of initial defence capabilities, which include ground-based and sea-based missile interceptors, as well as sensors located in space. Washington has explained the project as a means to defend the U.S. and its European allies from a potential attack by Iran or North Korea.

In January, the U.S. issued a formal request to place a missile defence radar base in the Czech Republic—in a military area southwest of Prague—as well as 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. The plan has sparked an angry reaction from the Russian government, which sees it as a threat to its own national security.

Poland's current president and prime minister—Lech Kaczynski and Jaroslaw Kaczynski—support Poland's participation in the defence plan. The terms of the agreement are still under negotiation and are expected to be finalized by the end of this year. Poland is expected to hold a new legislative election in October.

On Aug. 23, Austria's defence minister Norbert Darabos called the American anti-missile plan a "provocation" that could spark a new arms race in the region, adding, "The U.S. has chosen the wrong path in my opinion. There is no point in building up a missile defence shield in Europe. That only unnecessarily rekindles old Cold War debates."

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