Lt. Gen Hodges: Polish-US ties 'strong'

Talking to journalists after a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw on Sunday, he said: “When I think of Poland, I think about the people who love freedom and know how to fight for it”, and recalled that two Polish patriots, Kazimierz Pułaski and Tadeusz Kościuszko, are also the heroes of the American nation.

In the General’s view, the good relations between Poland and the United States, of which Kościuszko and Pułaski can serve as examples, are being continued, with Polish and American soldiers fighting together in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places.

On NATO’s summit in Warsaw in July 2016, General Hodges said that its primary goal is to demonstrate unity, with 28 member states committed in the collective defense of all 28 states.

“Russia, the Islamic State and the refugee crisis – these are the threats to security and the issues on which NATO countries have to work together, also in cooperation with the European Union,” General Hodges said.

He also expressed the view that President Vladimir Putin of Russia has sent troops to Syria to show that Russia is a global power and to make people forget about thousands of Russian soldiers occupying Ukraine’s sovereign territory.

“By diverting the attention from Ukraine, Putin wanted the European Union to lift its sanctions against Moscow,” he said.

The main subject of General Ben Hodges’s talks in Warsaw is Polish-US military cooperation, notably additional security assurances for Poland in the wake of Russia’s aggressive policies. (mk/rg)