Permanent US base in Poland a done deal?

Duda told Polish private television broadcaster Polsat on Wednesday that the subject was “alive" in the United States and that “Fort Trump” was “being considered all the time, but mainly from the technical side.”

“Some at the White House say … that the decision [to set up a permanent US military base in Poland] has effectively been made," Duda said.

He added: "But, of course, important technical matters still have to be resolved."

Poland already hosts US troops. The Polish section of a US missile defence shield over Europe is being built by the Americans at Redzikowo in the north of the country, some 1,000 American soldiers are stationed in the northeastern town of Orzysz, and there is a US troop presence as part of NATO, Duda said.

“We want there to be more US soldiers,” the Polish president added.

Amid fears of Russia, its giant neighbour to the east, Poland has been pressing for a permanent US troop presence on its territory.

Duda said that preparing infrastructure, which Poland has pledged to invest in, that would allow the base to be set up would not be “a process which can be completed within a year.”

Błażej Spychalski, a spokesman for the Polish president, said at the end of September that Warsaw wanted to spend about USD 2 billion to build infrastructure for American soldiers in Poland, including “housing, educational facilities, medical facilities.”

He also said Poland and the US were yet to agree on a location, with Washington preferring to set up the base in central Poland and Warsaw wanting the base in the country’s east.

Polish officials have suggested naming a new base Fort Trump, after US President Donald Trump.

Senior Polish parliamentarian Adam Bielan said last month that a decision on a possible permanent US troop presence in Poland was likely to be made next year.

(vb/pk)

Source: PAP