There were smiles and declarations of friendship but no concrete proposals - these are the most common comments of political analysts following the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden to Poland.

 

 

While in Warsaw Mr. Biden discussed the new US anti-missile defense system with the country's leaders and reiterated that Poland remains an important ally in central Europe.

 

The message the US Vice President brought to Poland was clear - the revamped project based on land-based SM-3 missiles which could be rolled out in four stages from 2011 to 2018 will be much better to members and allies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Polish  leaders gave their backing to the scaled-down alternative with premier Donald Tusk declaring Poland was ready to participate "on the necessary scale" in the project and president Lech Kaczynski calling discussions with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden good.

 

Many commentators, however, viewed Mr. Biden's tour of central and eastern Europe as a courtesy visit. They claimed the visit was merely a 'consolation mission' which lack details due to the long-term nature of the proposed project. They have also called for the re-evaluation of this country's approach to bilateral relations.