According to an analysis piece published by the paper, ongoing talks on a permanent presence of US troops on Polish soil with the aim of deterring Russia are going well, as described by officials.
“The discussions appear to have moved on from the idea of one or several major bases — as it is the case in neighboring Germany — to a more hybrid approach that could result in US personnel being based in existing buildings across the country,” the paper’s foreign affairs reporter, Rick Noack, wrote in the analysis, entitled “Syria and Afghanistan are Losing U.S. Troops but ‘Fort Trump’ Talks are Going Well, Poland Says.”
Noack noted that Polish President Andrzej Duda joked at a news conference at the White House in September that a permanent US army base in Poland could be named after Donald Trump.
The Polish government has “offered Trump money, fame and an opportunity to portray himself as an ally against Russia,” the Washington Post writer observed.
He cited the Polish defence minister as saying that it was not a question of whether but of how the base would be constructed.
“Poland is located right next to Russia and given its long history of foreign occupation, concerns over Russian military activity have long been more pressing here than in neighboring Germany, for instance,” Noack wrote in his analysis, posted at the washingtonpost.com website.
Done deal?
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak has said that the Polish government is making every effort to bring about the establishment of a permanent US army base in the country, a plan dubbed “Fort Trump” and aiming to enhance Poland’s security.
President Duda suggested in a media interview in October that a possible new permanent US military base in Poland could effectively be a done deal.
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 in September 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 the Polish president, 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 Baltic states.
Most Poles want permanent US military presence: defence ministry
More than half of Poles support government efforts to ensure a permanent US military presence in the country, the Polish defence ministry has said, citing poll findings.
Fifty-five percent of respondents answered in the affirmative when asked if they were in favour of a permanent US military base being set up in Poland, the defence ministry said, citing an October survey by pollster Kantar Polska.
Twenty-seven percent opposed the plan, while 18 percent were undecided, the ministry said the poll found.
(gs/pk)
Source: washingtonpost.com