Earlier this week, Polish President Andrzej Duda revealed that he had discussed the idea of Poland hosting some of NATO’s nuclear weapons with US officials. 

In an interview given to Polskie Radio on Wednesday,  the leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, insisted that he “fully supports” the idea.

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In an interview with the Gazeta Polska weekly, the Polish head of state was asked several questions regarding NATO’s Nuclear Sharing Program. The latter allows countries belonging to the Transatlantic Alliance that are deprived of their own nuclear weapons to host some from others that do.

“There is always a potential opportunity to participate in the Nuclear Sharing Program […] We have spoken with American leaders about whether the US is considering such a possibility. The issue is open” – Duda explained. 

He further underlined that Poland’s participation in the nuclear sharing initiative would by no means correspond with Warsaw getting any nuclear weapons under its control. “Participation in the program does not imply having your own nuclear weapon” – he emphasised. 

So far, there are only three NATO member states which possess their own nuclear weapons, namely the US, the UK, and France. As part of the organisations’ Nuclear Sharing Program, some of these nuclear weapons are hosted in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

Under the Homeland Defence Act passed last winter, the Polish government decided to double the size of its armed forces and increase defence spending from 2.2% currently to at least 3% next year. 

Such reinforcement of the military would make Poland NATO’s third-biggest relative spender, behind Greece (3.8%) and the United States (3.5%). 

Image: Shutterstock

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen