The former Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said: "This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence. It puts us in a position wherein we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that's a certain threat."
The Polish deputy foreign minister, Andrzej Kremer, saidthat Warsaw had heard from different sources there were "serious chances" the anti-missile system would not be deployed.
This was a demand from Russia when the initial plans were promised to Poland and the Czech Republic by the Bush administration and Obama capitulated to Russia's demands by scrapping those plans.
Wall Street Journal:
The decision to shelve the defense system is all but certain to raise alarms in Eastern Europe, where officials have expressed concerns that the White House's effort to "reset" relations with Moscow would come at the expense of American allies in the former Soviet bloc. "The Poles are nervous," said a senior U.S. military official.
Earlier, a Polish official said his government wouldn't "speculate" on administration decisions regarding missile defense but said "we expect the U.S. will abide by its commitments" to cooperate with Poland militarily in areas beyond the missile-defense program.
Weekly Standard has it from reliable sources that Obama officials are on their way to Poland and the Czech Republic to break the bad news.
The Telegraph refers to this as a "strategic victory for the Kremlin".
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