No intention to apologize for missile installation in Poland: Polish FM

Poland has no intention of apologizing for military projects it undertakes together with its allies, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Friday in response to Russian protests against the installation of U.S. Patriot missiles on Russia-neighboring Polish territory.

The surface-to-air missile battery, which is accompanied by 100 U.S. military personnel, arrived Sunday at Morag in northern Poland's picturesque Mazurian lake district, about 60 km from Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded explanations concerning the Patriots from the U.S. and Poland.

Earlier Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said the permanent installation of Patriots in Poland would "seriously infringe on Russia's agreement with NATO."

"I would not raise a fuss over such purely defensive installations. Poland is a NATO state like all others and has no intention of apologizing for military projects it undertakes with its allies," Sikorski said, quoted by the PAP news agency.

Commenting Grushko's protests, Sikorski reminded that Russia had installed its S-300 air defense system close to Poland's frontier.

Source: Xinhua