First posted on Instagram · @profilopolitics
Poland's Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said the Pentagon has given a "green light" for a permanent United States military base in Poland, following discussions with U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The development could strengthen NATO's eastern defences and deepen America's military presence near Russia's borders. Supporters see the move as an important security guarantee for Poland and other NATO members, while critics may view a permanent U.S. base so close to Russian territory as another escalation in tensions between Washington, NATO and Moscow. Final arrangements are still being discussed.
The announcement follows months of talks. On May 29, Kosiniak-Kamysz sent Hegseth a formal letter proposing the creation of a permanent base. On June 18, at a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels, the minister said he had received an official reply to the letter and that Hegseth, together with his entire team, had "responded positively to the proposition of establishing a permanent military base in our homeland," according to Poland's Ministry of National Defence. The following day, speaking at the Warsaw Defense Fair, he said Poland had received "the green light for very precise negotiations."
The two ministers met again at the Pentagon on Tuesday, November 10, at 10:30 a.m. local time, to discuss bases, the presence of American soldiers and the Polish-American alliance, the Pentagon confirmed. A previous meeting planned for September 23 was postponed at Washington's request, after a visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the United States.
No formal agreement has been signed. The location, the timeline and the financing remain unresolved, and the final decision rests with President Donald Trump. Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said after a Pentagon delegation visited Krakow that matters were "on the right track" but that several steps remained, and that a decision should come within a few weeks. Poland has estimated its own investment at 15 to 17 billion zloty, covering military infrastructure and facilities for soldiers' families.
Poland currently hosts around 10,000 U.S. troops, one of the largest American contingents in Europe and the biggest on NATO's eastern flank, though most are stationed on a rotational basis. The U.S. Army's V Corps Forward Command is already permanently stationed at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan. Locations under consideration for the new base are mainly in western Poland, including Poznan, Wroclaw, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz, and Polish officials have said the talks could cover several locations, not just one.
President Trump said on September 17 that there had been "major progress" in establishing an enduring U.S. presence in Poland, calling it a "historic step for our Great US/Polish Alliance." Poland spends close to 5 percent of its gross domestic product on defence, one of the highest rates among NATO allies, and Hegseth has praised Poland as a model ally for its defence spending and its role in protecting the alliance's eastern flank.
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