Poland wants more NATO troops in its territory: minister

PanARMENIAN.Net - Poland would prefer having extra NATO troops in its territory in the latest round of the alliance’s military buildup in Eastern Europe, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said iaccording to RIA Novosti.

“We would welcome more troops, both from Europe and the United States,” he told CNN Monday, June 2, adding that the level of security across the NATO area should be more or less even.

“At the moment we have NATO bases as a legacy of the Cold War in places where they were used during the confrontation with the Soviet Union and it doesn’t take into account the events of the last quarter of the century and this should now be addressed,” the minister added.

Earlier the U.S. sent 150 soldiers into Poland amid growing tensions with Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

The buildup of NATO military personnel in Poland will be discussed later this week during a meeting of defense ministers of the Atlantic alliance. Warsaw said it asked NATO to deploy more forces on its territory because it had felt threat from Russia, according to Der Spiegel.

The alliance is planning to reinforce its Multinational Corps Northeast in the Polish city of Szczecin, where 200 soldiers and officers are currently stationed. The Corps is headquarters consisting of servicemen from German, Denmark and Poland. If necessary the working group is able to coordinate actions of combat units.