Polish, US troops to hold joint drills next month

Some 6,000 Polish and American troops are scheduled to hold joint exercises next month, a news agency has reported.

Photo:

PAP/Marcin Bielecki

The "Defender Europe 20 Plus" drills will see around 100 tanks and more than 230 combat vehicles deployed to a training ground in northwestern Poland, according to the PAP news agency.

The first columns of military vehicles hit the road to the Drawsko Pomorskie site shortly after midnight on Monday, according to Capt. Błażej Łukaszewski, press officer for Poland’s 12th Mechanised Brigade, based in the northwestern city of Szczecin.

Photo: PAP/Marcin Bielecki

The exercises, which have been modified from original plans, are due to take place from June 5 to 19, the Polish news agency reported.

According to the defence ministry in Warsaw, the upcoming drills aim to strengthen the security of Poland and other countries along the eastern flank of NATO.

After six months of preparations soldiers of the 12th Mechanized Brigade are moving to the Drawsko military training area where they will take part in the exercise #DefenderEurope 20 Plus. Joint exercise 🇵🇱 - 🇺🇸 strengthens the security of Poland and the eastern flank of #NATO. https://t.co/4bHzuYnNam

— Poland MOD 🇵🇱 (@Poland_MOD) May 25, 2020

Earlier this year NATO scaled down its massive Defender-Europe 20 maneuvers in Poland and other European countries amid the spread of the coronavirus.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP