NATO Battalion Combat Group at the Polish Land Forces Training Centre in Orzysz

“Today we have in front of us, on Polish soil, a Battalion Combat Group of the North Atlantic Alliance. I will not exaggerate saying that this moment has been awaited since the end of World War II by generations of Poles, who have been dreaming of reuniting with the fair, solidary, democratic and truly free West,” said President Andrzej Duda during an official ceremony to welcome a NATO Battalion Combat Group.  

 As Poland’s foreign minister had stressed during his presentation on Polish foreign policy tasks for 2017, “last year yielded arrangements which will benefit Poland’s international security. July’s NATO summit in Warsaw decided to reinforce the eastern flank.” “The Alliance has thus reaffirmed its readiness to fulfil its core mission, which is to deliver collective defence, also in our region. These decisions have given a real boost to Polish security. Our borders are secure, there is no need to put up a fence. What we did put up are warning signs reading “Attention! This is territory of the Republic of Poland,” Minister Waszczykowski said.

 Following the NATO summit decisions, a Multinational Division Command is being established in Poland, which will coordinate four NATO battalion groups deployed to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The battalion group in our country will be formed by American troops, reinforced by British and Romanian soldiers.

 Poland will also host an armoured brigade combat team, as announced by the US president during the NATO summit in Warsaw, a confirmation of the strategic character of Polish-American relations. First American soldiers arrived to Poland in early 2017, and construction has been launched in Redzikowo to build a base forming part of the American anti-missile defence system, the so-called shield.

Embassy of the Republic of Poland
in Washington D.C.