Key facts
- A senior Polish defense official stated the U.S. has expressed interest in a permanent military base in Poland.
- The Polish government approved steps to allow a permanent U.S. base.
- Poland is financing the proposed base in cooperation with the U.S.
- Around 10,000 U.S. troops are typically stationed in Poland on a rotational basis.
- The U.S. is reportedly reorganizing its troop presence in Europe.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A senior Polish defense official said Wednesday that the United States has expressed interest in potentially establishing a permanent U.S. military base in Poland. Cezary Tomczyk, Poland’s deputy defense minister, spoke to The Associated Press a day after the Polish government approved steps to allow such a U.S. permanent base in Poland, on NATO’s eastern flank. He said the government’s resolution about the base Tuesday is an invitation to the Americans.
“The Americans are interested in the Polish offer to place a permanent base here,” because it would be financed by both countries, Tomczyk said in an interview at the Defense Ministry in Warsaw. When asked about the remarks, U.S. Defense Department officials in Washington said they had nothing new to announce.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Poles are doing everything in their power to have such a permanent base but that “the decision will always be on the side of the Americans.”