Armed Forces
Soloch for Defence24.pl: The Americans Are Fulfilling their Alliance-Related Commitments
Wojciech Drewczyński, fot. Space24.pl
The Americans are fulfilling their bilateral commitments - as we were told by Paweł Soloch, Head of the Polish National Security Bureau, referring to the process of reinforcing the US presence in the region of Poland and to the related developments.
Paweł Soloch, who took part in this year’s edition of the Warsaw Security Forum, stated that implementation of some of the arrangements that had been made during the NATO Summit in Warsaw already began. He also recalled the fact that an American brigade will maintain its presence in Poland, beginning from the next year.
(...) elements related to permanent presence [of an American armoured brigade - editor’s note] are being implemented, and all signs suggest that resources will also be provided by the US Congress.
Similar declarations had also been made earlier by General Ben Hodges, US Army Europe commander. Soloch adds that “regardless of the results of the election, the US policy within that scope will remain unchanged”.
The official representing the Bureau also mentioned his visit to Norfolk, USA, during which he had a chance to confront and compare the US steps taken at the NATO Transformation Command [NATO's Allied Command Transformation], as well as within the structure of the US Army.
Moreover, Soloch mentioned and emphasized the thing which causes the Americans TO fulfill their commitments, in relation to Poland. According to his words, political will is the main factor allowing the US to make such steps.
(...) we can see it clearly, that the main factor contributing to that (...) is the political will and well defined actions.
During the meeting in Brussels, Defence Ministers of the NATO member states made a decision referring to the details of the extended forward presence, referring to deployment of four battalion battle groups in Poland and the Baltics. The Battalion element in Orzysz will be commanded by the Americans and based on three companies armed with the Stryker APCs, accompanied by a number of support units. Moreover, the group will also involve troops from the UK and Romania. On the other hand, units of the Polish Army are expected to be deployed to Latvia, to join the group commanded by the Canadians.