General Dan Caine, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is due to arrive in Europe on Monday. He will attend a meeting of NATO military committee chiefs in Brussels on Tuesday, where Polish Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Wiesław Kukuła is expected to raise the issue of U.S. troop presence in Poland. Caine will then travel to Warsaw on Wednesday to meet Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Polish Deputy Defense Ministers Cezary Tomczyk and Paweł Zalewski are also scheduled to travel to Washington this week for further consultations. The issue will additionally be raised at a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Sweden on May 21-22, which Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is set to attend.
The flurry of diplomatic activity follows reports by Reuters and other U.S. outlets last week that the Pentagon had abruptly halted a rotation of around 4,000 soldiers who had reportedly already been prepared for deployment to Poland. CNN reported the decision was part of broader efforts to reduce U.S. troop numbers in Europe.
Polish officials have sought to contain the fallout. Kosiniak-Kamysz said there had been no decision to reduce the American contingent in Poland, and that any reorganization would affect only which specific units are sent to which countries. Presidential adviser Alvin Gajadhur echoed that assurance, saying the changes do not concern Poland and that the Presidential Palace stands ready to engage with Washington if issues arise.
Poland's National Security Bureau, BBN, said the reports of a rotation suspension do not directly or ultimately affect Poland, noting that more than 20 percent of planned troops and around 70 percent of military equipment for the current rotation have already been delivered. Around 10,000 U.S. soldiers and civilian defense personnel are based in Poland on both permanent and rotational assignments, BBN said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk used the moment to take aim at the opposition, accusing the Law and Justice party of trying to shift blame onto Poland for Washington's decisions, and criticizing presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki for what he described as disparaging remarks about Poland in front of foreign leaders at a Bucharest summit.
Paweł Szrot of opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) said the situation had produced an "information chaos", but added that security issues should remain above political disputes and noted bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for continued backing of Poland.
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Source: Polish Radio