From the 28th to the 30th of June, NATO member states’ leaders are participating in a special summit in Madrid. The main issues discussed are the ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as the intention of Sweden and Finland to join the Transatlantic Alliance. 

On Wednesday afternoon, American President Joe Biden announced the upcoming establishment of a permanent US military base (US Army’s V Corps) on NATO’s eastern flank, in Poland. The establishment of a permanent US base in Poland is a scoop, given the fact that only rotating US troops have been deployed in the region so far. 

Joe Biden underlined the unusually threatening context in which such à decision had to be taken. “In a moment when Putin has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very tenets of rule-based order, the United States and our allies are stepping up,” the US President told the media upon arrival in the Spanish capital. 

The White House explained that the additional deployment of American troops on Polish soil “will improve US-NATO interoperability across the eastern flank”.

President Biden also revealed that the US would station additional air defence in Italy and Germany, enhance rotational deployments in the Baltic States, maintain a rotational brigade in Romania, and deploy two squadrons of F-35 aircraft to the UK among other things. 

Biden’s announcement was warmly welcomed by Polish officials.  The latter has been pushing for an enhancement of US presence on NATO’s eastern flank for years. 

Poland’s government, which has for years been pushing for Western countries to take a stronger line against Russia, welcomed the announcement. Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that Warsaw considers Biden’s decision as “extremely important” so that countries on the frontline “can directly respond to threats that are most real here.”

The Biden Administration already announced the deployment of 1,700 additional US troops to Poland earlier this year, in the context of the increasingly aggressive moves of the Kremlin in Eastern Europe. This move by the US was accompanied by the deployment of two Patriot missile batteries and the transfer of several F-16 fighter jets to Poland.  

Photo: EPA/ Juan Carlos Hidalgo

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen