US seals decision on stationing heavy weapons in Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska
09.10.2015 11:38
US heavy military equipment is to be deployed in five bases in the country, including the 32nd Air Base in Łask, central Poland, Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak announced on Thursday.
The bilateral deal was finalised at the NATO Defence Ministers Meeting in Brussels. "Now that we have reached political agreement with the US, we will discuss the details [of the operation]," Siemoniak stated.
Siemoniak said the contract allows for "stationing troops, warehousing property, military equipment, provisions and various materials." Storage facilities, jointly financed by the United States and Poland, are to be readied by mid-2016.
The decision to store heavy weaponry in Poland is part of NATO's plan to boost defence capacity in eastern Europe and develop rapid reaction 'Spearhead' forces so as to ward off any threat from Russia. The efforts were launched in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Moscow's takeover of Crimea in 2014.
In June, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter announced plans to deploy 250 battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers, alongside enough equipment to arm some 5,000 NATO troops across six eastern European nations, including Poland.
The agreement between Warsaw and Washington is another in a series of steps aimed at beefing up security in Poland and region, including NATO training activities in Poland and the deployment of a US Patriot missile battery on a rotational basis on Polish soil. (aba/rk)
Source: IAR