The Pentagon has given the green light to a permanent U.S. troop presence in Poland, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Tuesday after meeting with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Washington. He said they also discussed, among other things, Poland’s purchase and use of Tomahawk missiles.
On Tuesday, Kosiniak-Kamysz and Deputy Defense Ministers Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka and Paweł Zalewski met at the Pentagon with the head of the U.S. Department of War (defense).
At a briefing after the meeting, the defense minister stressed that it was “probably the most important” and a groundbreaking visit by representatives of the Polish defense ministry to the United States.
The deputy prime minister stressed that “Poland is not only a model ally of the United States, but has become a strategic partner” of that country.
He said one of the topics of the talks was the permanent presence of American troops in Poland. Asked about the status of the decision on a permanent U.S. troop presence in Poland, Hegseth replied that “everything is going in the right direction,” Kosiniak-Kamysz recounted.
He said he interprets this as a “green light from the Pentagon for (…) a permanent base of American troops in Poland.” He said the final decision rests with the White House and will be made in early December.
The deputy prime minister said another goal of the visit was to discuss the sale and potential use of Tomahawk missiles and their launchers. “We submitted such a request a few months ago. There is also a response that everything looks good. That means that on the Pentagon’s side there is also (…) a positive recommendation. The final approval rests with Congress,” Kosiniak-Kamysz explained.
The minister stressed that “Poland is the U.S. ambassador in the European Union, so that American equipment produced, for example, by Polish-American companies can benefit from European money, EU money.” He also announced that he will present a proposal on the issue at the upcoming meeting of EU defense ministers.
The BGM-109 Tomahawk is an American cruise missile used, among others, by the U.S. Navy and the British Royal Navy. This type of missile is designed to hit targets at distances of more than a thousand kilometers (about 620 miles). It was used, among other occasions, during recent U.S. operations in the Middle East, where missiles fired from U.S. Navy ships were used to strike targets deep inside Iran.
The deputy prime minister said an agreement on cooperation in the defense industries, development and joint initiatives was signed during the visit to the United States.
Asked about the call for “building a new security architecture,” the deputy prime minister replied: “We are no longer discussing a security architecture, we are building that architecture.” He added that Tuesday’s visit is an important element in building a security architecture for all of Europe, and especially for NATO’s eastern flank.
“I can’t imagine giving in to pressure from Russia in this context,” he declared.
The deputy prime minister’s visit took place a week after the midterm elections, in which Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress.
“I would not be so skeptical, and I would not see the role of the Democrats in the process of strengthening NATO’s eastern flank, as well as aid for Ukraine, in such a dark light,” he said.
He said he sees no opponents of a permanent base among either Republicans or Democrats. He also noted that the Polish government maintains relations with representatives of both sides of the political spectrum in the United States.
From Washington, Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)
