Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz visit U.S. and Polish forces in Powidz, Poland, Feb. 15, 2025. Szczecin could be a future home for a new U.S. military base in the country, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Wziatek told public broadcaster Polish Radio on Tuesday. (Alexander Kubitza/U.S. Navy)
The Polish port city of Szczecin could be where thousands of American soldiers call home if plans for a new permanent base in the country come to fruition, a top Warsaw official said this week.
Site surveys have started for a new base that in all likelihood will be in the western part of the country, Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Wziatek told public broadcaster Polish Radio on Tuesday.
Szczecin, with a population of roughly 400,000, would be an appealing option because of its transportation infrastructure, such as its proximity to a seaport where heavy equipment can be moved in and out, Wziatek said.
“A base is essentially a small city,” said Wziatek, who told the radio station that the aim is to house around 5,000 troops and thousands more family members.
Poland says it is prepared to build the type of American garrison found in Germany, where schools for military children and services such as commissaries and health clinics are required.
Wroclaw and the area around Poznan, where the U.S. already has a small but growing presence, also are being considered as potential areas for a base, the Polish news agency Wirtualna Polska reported Tuesday, citing unidentified officials. Warsaw is prepared to foot the bill for building such a location, which could cost around $3 billion to develop, the outlet reported.
The developments follow a NATO defense ministers meeting last week in Brussels, where U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Polish counterpart, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, discussed the possibility of a new permanent base.
Hegseth indicated openness to the idea, said Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland’s defense minister.
The push by Warsaw to get more U.S. troops into Poland comes at a time of upheaval for the U.S. military’s mission in Europe. In May, the Pentagon announced that it was cutting 5,000 troops from Germany.
However, the majority of those service members were connected to a Texas-based U.S. armored brigade preparing to deploy to Poland for a nine-month rotation.
Polish officials responded with concerns about the decision, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to announce that he was sending 5,000 additional troops to the country.
The Pentagon has not yet fully detailed how it will cut troop levels in Germany or achieve Trump’s directive to boost troop numbers in Poland.
One option could be to relocate the Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment to Poland, which has long sought a brigade type force to be permanently based on its territory.
A move involving the regiment is being considered, but the Pentagon has not made any final decisions on which units might be involved in any new base arrangement, Wirtualna Polska reported.
