The Pentagon confirmed today that it plans to increase its military presence in Poland by about 1,000 soldiers after reaching an agreement that will not entail additional costs to the coffers of the country as a result of the visit, this Wednesday, of the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, to the White House .
“The US plans to increase its current military presence in Poland, which currently consists of a rotation of 4,500 military personnel, and this permanent presence is expected to increase by an additional 1,000 military personnel in the short term,” the two countries said. a joint statement released Thursday by the Pentagon.
The confirmation of the Department of Defense comes after the president himself, Donald Trump, on Wednesday planted doubts about the final amount by stating at first that the number of troops destined for Poland would be around 2,000, for more minutes I would later disdain and point out that it would be a thousand.
The main purpose of this action, adds the note, is “to increase the resources of defense and deterrence in Poland”.
The agreement also includes establishing a division headquarters in Polish territory, creating a Combat Training Center that will be used by the armies of both countries and the installation of structures for use by a US Special Forces unit.
“Recognizing that the increase of US forces in Poland is sustainable thanks to Polish support, Poland plans to supply and support joint infrastructures for this initial project proposal at no cost to the US,” explains the joint statement.
This is a particularly relevant point since President Trump has criticized numerous times the high cost of having troops quartered abroad, so the White House came to speculate with the possibility of demanding the payment of 150% of the costs to countries that host US military bases.
In addition to this cooperation agreement, President Duda’s visit was closed with a firm commitment to purchase 32 US-made F-35 fighters.
