WARSAW (US) – Discussions are under way for a possible visit by Polish President Andrzej Duda to Washington, Polish media reported. This comes in the wake of Warsaw looking to boost the US military’s presence in the former communist state.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States would reduce the number of its troops in Germany by about 9,500. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said he hopes some troops now stationed in Germany will be moved to Poland.
“If there is such an official invitation, then there will be such a visit and there will be such a meeting,” Duda aide Krzysztof Szczerski told Polish radio.
Poland’s state news agency, PAP, came out with a report that an invitation had been received by Poland on a working level but had yet to be confirmed by either the Polish or the American side.
Asked about the possibility of a visit, Duda’s spokesman referred to Szczerski’s remark and declined to comment further.
Duda, an ally of the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, is fighting an increasingly close campaign before a presidential election on June 28.
On June 12 last year, Trump agreed in the presence of Duda in Washington to send 1,000 more troops to his NATO ally, bolstering its defences against Russia to the east and cementing bilateral ties.
Reuters reported on June 10 that the project was crumbling, with disputes remaining over how to fund the deployment of additional troops and where to garrison them.
The report was denied by some members of Poland’s government and the US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field