Polish troops leave for Latvia under NATO decision
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
29.05.2017 14:00
Polish troops have been given an official send-off in Braniewo, northern Poland, as they headed for Latvia to join a NATO multinational battalion battle group headed by Canada.
Minister Antoni Macierewicz. Photo: mon.gov.pl
Troops from Albania, Spain, Slovenia and Italy will join the 170 Polish soldiers to make up a group 1,000-strong.
It is one of four such groups to be deployed under to a decision taken at a NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016 to protect alliance members seen as most at risk of a Russian attack after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine in 2014.
Another multinational battalion battle group, headed by the US, was deployed to northeastern Poland earlier this year, while the remaining two groups will be stationed in Estonia and Lithuania.
Meanwhile, Deputy Defence Minister Michał Dworczyk said that US troops will be stationed in Poland after 2018, adding the fact that such long-term plans are being laid out suggests they will remain for "as long as necessary". (vb/pk)
Source: PAP