PRAGUE, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania supports the stationing of the planned U.S. missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said after meeting his Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg on Friday.

    Lithuania will present this position at the NATO summit in April that is to deal with the U.S. project and its possible integration with NATO defense, the Czech news agency CTK quoted Vaitiekunas as saying.

    According to Vaitiekunas, Lithuania welcomes every effort of NATO, the United States, the Czech Republic and Poland to create this type of missile defense.

    He said that the system will make the region safer and that it is also in Lithuania's security interest.

    He said he can also feel support for the plan among Lithuanians.

    The United States initiated the plan to deploy an anti-missile radar base in the Czech Republic and a missile interceptor base in Poland. Negotiations between the Czech Republic and the United States are still underway.

    Russia has expressed strong objections to the U.S. missile defense program in Poland and the Czech Republic.

    Some 70 percent of Czech citizens are opposed to the base, according to public opinion polls.