Deal this week on more US troops in Poland?

Amid fears of Russian aggression, the authorities in Warsaw have been making intense efforts to secure a boosted American troop presence in Poland, which lies on NATO’s eastern flank.

Poland’s Andrzej Duda will meet US President Donald Trump during an official visit to Washington on Wednesday, where the pair are expected to discuss issues including defence and security.

Krzysztof Szczerski, chief of staff to the Polish head of state, told reporters on Monday that the US troop presence in Poland "will be increased both in terms of quality and quantity."

Earlier, speaking to public broadcaster Polish Radio, Szczerski said: "I can officially confirm that negotiations on a political agreement between Poland and the US have been completed with a view to increasing the American military presence in Poland, but this obviously does not yet mean that the deal is done.”

'Presidents will decide'

Szczerski added: “Now the result of these negotiations will be presented to the presidents, and the presidents will decide during talks … whether this agreement satisfies them.

"If so, we foresee this political agreement will be adopted during President Andrzej Duda's visit to the White House on June 12."

The Reuters news agency last month reported that two US officials had said Washington and Warsaw were close to a deal that would see the number of non-permanent American troops in Poland increase by between 1,000 and 1,500.

Around 4,500 rotating US troops are stationed in Poland on average as part of a NATO force, the agency reported.

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.

Meanwhile, Szczerski said that during Duda’s trip to the United States this week a string of bilateral agreements were expected to be signed on energy, medical technology and business team-ups.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP