WARSAW, Dec 8: Prime Minister Leszek Miller said Monday that Poland, a former Soviet satellite, was ready to allow US bases on its territory if such a request was made.

Mr Miller told state Trojka radio that a “decision (to set up US bases) should be made”.

“If it was only up to me, I would have said yes,” he added in an interview from his hospital bed where he is being treated for injuries sustained in a helicopter crash.

US Undersecretary of Defence Douglas Feith, who arrived in Poland on Monday to discuss the issue, will make “concrete proposals”, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski told private radio station Radio Zet.

“Consultations will start today,” he added.

Mr Szmajdzinski said there was no risk that Poland, a NATO member since 1999, could become a target for extremists if US military bases were opened in the country.—AFP