Prime Minister Donald Tusk appeared satisfied with the American VP's assurances Courtesy of G.Rogiński / CIR

During a two-day visit to Poland last week, US Vice President Joe Biden did his best to soothe the tensions which have grown between the two countries over the last year. He met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Lech Kaczyński, receiving their support for a new missile defense project being mooted by the Obama administration.

During his meeting with PM Tusk, Mr Biden repeatedly stressed Poland’s special status. “Make no mistake about it: Our commitment to Poland is unwavering,” he said. He called Poland one of the US’s closest allies and a regional leader, and he praised Polish soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The American vice president also spoke about the advantages of the defense project, which employs SM-3 missiles. Although few other specifics are known, PM Tusk announced Poland’s readiness to take part in the project, stressing that it was “very interesting and necessary.” The PM also expressed his satisfaction that he and Vice President Biden have “almost identical” views on the situation in Central and Eastern Europe.

The subsequent meeting with President Kaczyński took two hours, far longer than scheduled. Mr Biden explained that it takes a while to catch up “when two old friends get together.” Afterwards, President Kaczyński said, “We received assurances about the stability of the alliance between Poland and the US.”

The high-level visit was widely perceived as damage control after the clumsy fashion in which the Obama administration announced the abandonment of its predecessor’s missile shield program. The news broke on September 17, the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, a sensitive date for Poles.

Members of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party dismissed the visit as an empty gesture. “If there are no statements about when the project will be implemented, it means that the US administration has no intention of going ahead with it,” PiS’s Karol Karski, deputy head of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, told PAP.