By CLAUDIA CIOBANU<\/p>\n
WARSAW, Poland (AP) \u2014 A senior Polish defense official said Wednesday that the United States has expressed interest in potentially establishing a permanent U.S. military base in Poland.<\/p>\n
Cezary Tomczyk, Poland\u2019s deputy defense minister, spoke to The Associated Press a day after the Polish government approved steps to allow such a U.S. permanent base in Poland, on NATO\u2019s eastern flank. He said the government\u2019s resolution about the base Tuesday is an invitation to the Americans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Americans are interested in the Polish offer to place a permanent base here,\u201d because it would be financed by both countries, Tomczyk said in an interview at the Defense Ministry in Warsaw.<\/p>\n
When asked about the remarks, U.S. Defense Department officials in Washington said they had nothing new to announce.<\/p>\n
Polish Defense Minister W\u0142adys\u0142aw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Poles are doing everything in their power to have such a permanent base but that \u201cthe decision will always be on the side of the Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around 10,000 U.S. troops are typically stationed in Poland, the majority on a rotational basis.<\/p>\n
The Polish government is hoping that thousands of U.S. troops be stationed permanently, as the U.S. rethinks its military presence in Europe, both in personnel and weaponry.<\/p>\n
In May, the U.S. suddenly halted the deployment<\/a> of 4,000 soldiers to Poland despite the Trump administration considering the country a \u201cmodel ally\u201d for reaching its NATO target for spending on defense.<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump previously had threatened to pull troops out of Germany. That was attributed to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticizing the U.S. on Iran, but the reduction of troops in Poland caused widespread confusion on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n Tomczyk was part of a Polish team immediately dispatched to Washington for talks. He was still in the U.S. capital when Trump wrote on social media that U.S. would send<\/a> an additional 5,000 troops to Poland.<\/p>\n Since then, the U.S. has confirmed that it is reorganizing its troop presence in Europe but has given no further clarity about which troops are going where. However, multiple statements from Polish defense officials since then indicate they believe Poland has a chance to see an increase in permanent U.S. troops.<\/p>\n