U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to visit Warsaw on Monday to sign a deal on the deployment of elements of a U.S. missile shield in Poland.
Her trip to the Polish capital will come after a visit to Brussels, Belgium, for an emergency session of the NATO Council “to discuss the situation in Georgia and its implications for the region,” a U.S. State Department statement read.
Rice also plans to meet in Brussels with EU leaders, including French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, European Union High Representative Javier Solana, and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Fererro-Waldner. France currently holds the EU rotating presidency.
“In Warsaw, Secretary Rice will sign a formal agreement with Poland on behalf of the United States for the establishment and operation of a ballistic missile defense interceptor site in Poland. This agreement is an important step in our efforts to protect the United States and our European allies from the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles,” the statement also read.
The deal to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland was reached last Thursday, and followed the signing of an agreement on July 8 by the U.S. and Czech foreign ministries to place a U.S. radar in the Czech Republic.
