US troops and military hardware will be stationed in Poland so that the deployment of US Patriot missiles can go ahead next year, Poland’s Defense Ministry announced last week. US officials said that the initial troop deployment should start sometime in 2010.

“Talks on an agreement allowing the military presence of the United States in our country have been concluded successfully,” Polish defense ministry spokesperson Robert Rochowicz told the AFP.

The Status of Forces Agreement between the US and Polish governments is a prerequisite for the US to place a Patriot battery in Poland, as well as for any future missile-shield elements.

Many people in Poland – especially media commentators – expressed dismay in September when President Barrack Obama’s administration dispensed with a Bush-administration plan to install a permanent interceptor missile battery on Polish territory.

Instead, the US proposed a new missile defense system which would not be stationed permanently in Europe, a plan which allayed Russian fears of encirclement but elicited accusations of appeasement from Polish commentators.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that in addition to Patriot missiles, the US would like to deploy SM-3 missiles in both Poland and the Czech Republic in 2015.