Polish defense minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz speaks in this undated photo. Kosiniak-Kamysz said Wednesday he expects the U.S. military to become more involved in Poland, even as troop reductions are expected elsewhere in Europe. (Polish Defense Ministry/X)
Poland’s top defense official submitted a formal plan to the Pentagon this week to establish a new American base in the country, marking Warsaw’s latest push to bolster the U.S. presence amid expectations of reductions elsewhere in Europe.
Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Wednesday on X that he had passed along a proposal to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a second permanent U.S. military base in Poland.
“US engagement in Poland’s security is not diminishing,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said in the post. “On the contrary, it may be even greater!”
The Pentagon has not commented publicly on Poland’s proposal.
The comments come as allies on NATO’s eastern flank scramble to secure U.S. troop commitments in the aftermath of a force posture shakeup in Europe that has raised questions about where American troops will be based in upcoming months and years.
Last month, the Defense Department said it was pulling 5,000 troops from Germany, a decision that coincided with President Donald Trump’s irritation over Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticisms of the White House’s handling of the Iran conflict.
But as details emerged, it turned out that the majority of the 5,000 U.S. troops were actually earmarked for a nine-month mission in Poland rather than Germany.
The prospect of a troop cut shocked many in Poland, which has been touted by Trump and top Pentagon officials as a “model ally.”
Trump subsequently announced that he was ordering 5,000 more troops to Poland. However, military officials have yet to detail how they intend to carry out Trump’s Poland directive.
If they do follow through, U.S. European Command will need to identify more units to relocate.
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the leader of U.S. European Command, has said a slated long-range fires battalion deployment to Germany in 2026 will no longer take place. But that involves only several hundred troops.
Since a rotational armored brigade bound for Poland was originally counted in the 5,000 total for Germany, EUCOM will need to find around 4,000 troops from other units to follow through on the original Pentagon directive.
In the near term, EUCOM could accomplish both aims — adding troops in Poland and reducing them in Germany — through a rotational concept that would see certain units in Germany taking up temporary positions in Poland.
However, EUCOM faces obstacles when it comes to quickly adding 5,000 troops to Poland on a permanent basis, since basing infrastructure in the country is largely designed for rotational American forces.
The 2023 debut of the Poznan-headquartered U.S. Army Garrison Poland marked the first permanent U.S. military installation in the country after years of rotational deployments prompted by Russia’s invasions of Ukraine.
But expanding the permanent U.S. presence in Poland would present practical challenges. Most U.S. facilities in the country were built to support rotational deployments rather than military families, who require housing, schools, commissaries and other quality-of-life amenities.
In theory, the Pentagon and EUCOM could set up a temporary rotational arrangement in Poland as a stopgap while Warsaw develops facilities needed for a permanent contingent.
“We will do everything we can to increase the presence of American troops and create the best possible conditions for our American partner,” Kosiniak-Kamysz told Poland’s Onet news agency. “The American side expects details and commitment.”
