Support in US for 'Fort Trump' in Poland: defence minister

During a trip to Washington, Błaszczak on Monday held talks with President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton.

"I was told there is support for this project," Błaszczak said, referring to efforts by the government in Warsaw to have more US troops stationed in Poland amid fears of Russian aggression.

He added: "The details are of course being discussed in a Polish-American working group at the Pentagon, so we are working on ensuring that the details are satisfactory for both sides.”

'Optimistic'

Błaszczak earlier on Monday said he was optimistic about talks on setting up a “Fort Trump” in Poland.

Poland already hosts US troops on a rotating basis as part of NATO, and the Polish section of a US missile defence shield over Europe is being built by the Americans at Redzikowo in the north of the country.

Senior Polish parliamentarian Adam Bielan said last month that a decision on a possible new permanent US troop presence in Poland was likely to be made next year.

Błażej Spychalski, a spokesman for Polish President Andrzej Duda, said at the end of September that Warsaw wanted to spend about USD 2 billion to build infrastructure for American soldiers in Poland, including housing, educational and medical facilities.

Amid fears of Russian aggression following Moscow's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014, NATO decided at a Warsaw summit in July 2016 to deploy four rotating multinational battalions to Poland and the three Baltic states.

(pk/gs)

Source: Polish Radio/IAR/PAP