By Malgorzata Rakowiec GDANSK, Poland, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk sought on Friday to reassure citizens of a Baltic town set to host part of a controversial U.S. missile shield that it would enhance, not threaten, their security. Poland agreed this month to host 10 interceptors as part of the U.S. global missile shield. Washington says the shield will protect the United States and its European allies from attacks by what it calls "rogue" states, particularly Iran. Warsaw sealed the agreement at the height of the Georgia crisis after many months of difficult negotiations, drawing accusations from Moscow that the shield is really aimed against Russia. Moscow has long opposed the project. "I will try to convince citizens of the region that this will be a place important for Poland's security," Tusk told reporters during a visit to the Redzikowo military base where the interceptors are due to be located. "Because of the shield Redzikowo and (the nearby town of) Slupsk will be better protected. Maybe they will be more exposed, but they definitely will be better protected." Under the accord, the United States will also base a battery of Patriot missiles on Polish soil as a defence against a short-range attack that Warsaw fears. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this week Moscow would respond militarily to the deployment of U.S. missiles close to its border under the shield plan. Slawomir Ziemianowicz, a representative of Slupsk local authorities near Poland's Baltic port of Gdansk, told Reuters: "In the past, when Russia threatened to turn its missiles against us, nobody took it seriously. But now, after what happened in Georgia, these words have become much more serious." A recent survey showed about half of local inhabitants oppose the shield project, though support for the system has increased nationally in Poland following Russia's military intervention in ex-Soviet Georgia. A separate survey published in Friday's edition of Rzeczpospolita newspaper showed around 60 percent of Poles thought Russia was hostile towards Poland. The Czech Republic, Poland's southern neighbour, is scheduled to host a radar facility under the shield plan, but the Prague government has yet to secure parliamentary support. The Czechs are now in talks on a pact covering the status of U.S. military personnel on their soil. A source familiar with the talks said Prague is seeking a sweetener to the deal after Washington agreed to upgrade Poland's air defences. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has floated the idea of more military aid from the United States. On Friday, Czech media reported it could include several Hercules transport aircraft. Poland's parliament is also set to vote on the elements of the shield to be sited on its soil but no date has been fixed. (Additional reporting by Michael Winfrey in Prague and Gabriela Baczynska in Warsaw) (Writing by Gareth Jones and Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Tony Austin)
Protestors march through the Nowy Swiat Street in the centre of Warsaw August 29, 2008. About 18,000 workers joined a protest march on Friday organised by Poland's main trade union Solidarity ...
