The secretary of the United States Defense Peter Hegseth praised Poland as “NATO NATO ally” in his first go to to Warsaw on Friday, the place he met President Andrzej Duda and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz .
Pete Hegseth made his first bilateral state go to as a secretary to the protection of the United States on Friday, assembly the Polish president Andrez Duda and the deputy prime minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz in Warsaw.
“It is sort of intentional that our first European bilateral (go to) is true right here in Poland,” stated Hegseth after the assembly.
“We see Poland because the allied mannequin on the continent, keen to take a position not solely of their protection however in our shared protection,” he added.
Poland will get it – Forti army discourage the conflict, “stated Hegseth after assembly along with his Polish counterpart in a press release on X, the place he additionally referred to Poland as a” first -line state state “.
Poland is the biggest NATO Spender in relative phrases and has assigned 4.2% of its GDP in protection in 2024. This yr, this determine ought to rise to 4.7%.
Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz has beforehand acknowledged that Poland will be “the transatlantic bond between this problem set by the President of the United States Donald Trump and its implementation in Europe”, referring to Trump’s query that each one NATO Member States They spend 5% of their GDP in protection.
“We want a transparent motion plan,” he stated, underlining that “a radical annual improve in protection expenditure to realize 5% of the GDP should be the objective”.
However, Kosiniak-Kamysz has additionally admitted that this is probably not attainable for all states instantly, particularly for many who at the moment contribute solely to 2%.
The protection bills of Poland have grown quickly from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, rising from 1.88% of GDP in 2014 to 2.23% in 2023, with a number of will increase that ought to comply with.
The United States and Poland are shut army allies, with about 8,000 US troops at the moment stationed in Poland.
In 2019, Duda and Trump, who have been then serving her first time period, signed a protection settlement for the station of 1,000 further troops on a rotational foundation. The United States have a army base consolidated in Poland since 2023.
The leaders of each international locations most likely hope for a steady protection cooperation, particularly in a important junction of potential negotiations regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
