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Polish MoD optimistic about US permanent base

PR dla Zagranicy
Michał Owczarek 16.02.2019 15:00
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak hopes for the best in talks underway with US officials about setting up a new permanent American army base in Poland.
Mariusz Błaszczak. Photo: PAP/Paweł SupernakMariusz Błaszczak. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Błaszczak on Saturday held meetings with US Senate Armed Services Committee officials in Germany during the Munich Security Conference. He told reporters he discussed the topic with both Republican and Democratic congressmen.

“We are discussing details, and I think we are on the right track to achieve success. My yesterday's meeting with [acting US Secretary of Defense] Patrick Shanahan is a proof for that,” Błaszczak said. He declined, however, to disclose any timeframe for the project. “This is of course a process. I don’t want to set any deadlines for that process to end … I hope for a success,” he added.

Błaszczak earlier 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. 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. 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. (mo)

Source: IAR

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