The US wants to expand its military presence in Poland. An agreement was signed by US President Donald Trump and Polish President Andrzej Duda yesterday in the White House. According to Trump, the deployment of about 1,000 additional US soldiers to Poland is planned. According to his information, they may possibly be relocated there by Germany.
However, the arrangements made with Duda hardly fulfilled all the original Polish expectations of the meeting. Warsaw wants a significant increase as well as a permanent US military presence in the country. At the beginning of the meeting with Duda Trump had said that the dispatch of 2,000 additional US soldiers to Poland was targeted – this number halved less than three hours later at a joint press conference with Duda.
Even with the Polish desire for a permanent US military base in Poland, the US President did not commit himself: „I’m not talking about durability or non-permanency“ of troop deployment, he said evasively. On a previous visit to Washington in September, Duda offered that Poland would spend more than $ 2 billion to build a US base. He even suggested calling this base „Fort Trump“.
Sanctions over „Nord Stream 2“ considered
In addition, Trump is considering sanctions for the planned Baltic Sea gas pipeline „Nord Stream 2“ from Russia to Germany: „This is something we look at and think about,“ said Trump on the sidelines of Duda’s visit. Nord Stream 2 will deliver gas from Russia to Germany, bypassing Poland and Ukraine. Trump and Duda reject the pipeline on which the German government is holding.
Trump did not provide any information about whom any sanctions could be directed. US Senators Ted Cruz (Republican) and Jeanne Shaheen (Democrats) introduced a bipartisan bill to the US Senate in May, providing for sanctions against ship-owners for piping pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
