Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski was quoted in the German weekly newspaper Welt am SonntagAccording to them, Poland is open to host American nuclear weapons.
Kaczynski does not want to be a “rando” politician looking for fame. On the contrary, he is the founder and leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party and is frequently referred to as Poland’s “chief of state.”
“Basically, it makes sense to expand nuclear sharing to the eastern flank,” he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, in a reference to Nato’s northeastern members Poland and the Baltic states. “If the Americans asked us to store US nuclear weapons in Poland, we would be open to that. It would significantly increase deterrence towards Moscow.”
Poland is pushing for “a large operational Nato command in Poland”, Kaczynski said, such as the allied air command in the Netherlands at Brunssum, “where joint Nato operations can be planned and conducted”.
He said: “That would send a clear signal to Moscow: the Nato leadership is now also present in the east,” and urged Washington to increase troop numbers “from the present 100,000 soldiers up to 150,000 in the future due to Russia’s increasing aggression. Of these, 75,000 soldiers should be stationed on the eastern flank, on the border with Russia, with 50,000 soldiers in the Baltic states and Poland.”
It is more or less an open secret that the United States has nuclear weapons stored in several European countries (Kleine Brogel in Belgium, Büchel Air Base in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi Air Bases in Italy, Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands, and Incirlik in Turkey). They have had these weapons for many decades. Similar arrangements for hosting in other European countries as well as with East Asian allies have ended. This would be the most significant move by the US since the 1960s if Poland was chosen to host nuclear weapons.
I’m not sure what is to be gained, in the way of strategic advantage, by moving nukes to Poland. But, Putin’s run as a bully would end with the permanent base of large numbers NATO troops and nukes in Poland.
The Russians aren’t happy. Russians shouldn’t be happy.
Dmitry Peskov (Kremlin spokesperson) said this would only result in heightened tensions when he addressed reporters during a conference call.
Know what else leads to “heightened tensions?” Invading neighboring countries that pose no risk—threatening everyone in sight with a nuclear attack if you don’t get your way—killing dissidents in foreign countries.
I think we’ve reached a point where we have to admit a Second Cold War is underway and the only way to prevent more wars in Europe, like the one in Ukraine, is to heavily fortify nations bordering Russia and bring them into NATO. What we are seeing in Ukraine, however is the opposite. Russia is seen as the same aggressive and hostile power that caused NATO to be created.
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