In comments published on Sunday, Polish party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has stated that Poland would be “open” to allowing the U.S. to station nuclear weapons within Poland. On top of this, they also welcome a 50% increase in U.S. troops across Europe, which would see numbers increase from 100,000 to 150,000. These comments come as a direct retaliation to Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, which has fuelled security fears in states on NATO’s eastern flank.
Although there is not any current construction of facilities capable of housing nuclear weapons within Poland, Kaczynski is encouraging the move and is also calling for tougher action and sanctions towards Russia. Speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Kaczynski stated that “Poland would be pleased if the Americans increased their presence in Europe from the current 100,000 soldiers up to 150,000 in the future due to Russia’s increasing aggressiveness.” “Of these, 75,000 soldiers should be stationed on the eastern flank; i.e., on the border with Russia; 50,000 soldiers in the Baltic states and Poland.”
Last month, NATO announced that they will increase its presence in the region, announcing four additional multinational battle groups in Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.
Prior to the conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. had approximately 80,000 troops present in Europe, however that number could drastically increase as tensions continue to rise in the region.
