Politics
10:17, 06-Jul-2017
The strategic importance of Poland to NATO
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Poland is among only a handful of NATO countries that meet their requirement and spend two percent of its GDP on military – a target that US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged all 29 member states of the alliance to reach.
Experts have said that the alleged threat from Russia is a reason not only for increased military spending, but also for inviting NATO armies for regular drills on its soil.
Tanks roaring through the Polish fields and helicopters lifting heavy military equipment have become reoccurring sights in the country in the last couple of years.
The latest military exercise took place at the Polish border with Lithuania, a 60-kilometer stretch that divides Russian troops in Belarus and Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Poland is at the forefront of those escalating tensions between Russia and NATO. The country is strongly supporting Ukraine’s position on Russia, advocating the tightening of sanctions on Moscow, and pushing for large permanent NATO presence at the borders with Russia.
US President Donald Trump's visit to the country on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit in Germany shows the significance he has placed on Poland.
Under its Operation "Atlantic Resolve," the US has contributed more troops for deterrence in Eastern Europe, deploying temporarily a 3,500-strong armored brigade with 80 battle tanks to Poland in January this year. The force will later spread out to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.