Warsaw insists that all is fine despite the unexpected American decision — but fears are growing.
Jan Cienski
But there was no disguising that the U.S. move left Poland flat-footed.
It wasn’t clear why Hegseth canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division — a decision made after the unit had begun preparations to depart for Europe. Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said the move was “not an unexpected, last-minute decision.”
Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed anger and frustration with European allies for their failure to help with the Iran war, however, Hegseth has previously labeled Poland a “model ally” for its defense spending, which is the highest in NATO.
Although Poland is deeply divided politically between the pro-EU government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and nationalist and MAGA-aligned President Karol Nawrocki, there is a broad consensus that the presence of American troops is crucial to Poland’s defense against Russia.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said he called both Tusk and Nawrocki after the news about the deployment broke. He also held a Thursday evening call with U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. forces in Europe as well as NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe.
“We are in constant contact with the U.S. side,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said in the Polish parliament Thursday. “Poland is a steadfast ally that fulfills all its obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty. We spend nearly 5 percent of our GDP on defense.”
