US, Polish Defense Chiefs Discuss Bolstering US Military Presence

The US Defense Department said that US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak discussed at the Pentagon on Tuesday ways to bolster the US military presence in Poland.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak discussed at the Pentagon on Tuesday ways to bolster the US military presence in Poland, the US Defense Department said in readout of the meeting.

“In addition to continuing US Air Force rotations at Lask Air Base and other exercises and training activities under European Command's Operation Atlantic Resolve, the US presence at Multinational Corps Northeast in Szczecin was discussed,” the Defense Department said on Tuesday.

The two defense chiefs also addressed NATO-reassurance activities in Poland, the US-Polish defense cooperation in response to Russia and the events in Ukraine as well as the European Reassurance Initiative.

At the September 2014 NATO summit in Wales, members agreed to double the number of officers to about 400 at NATO’s base in Szczecin in western Poland.

Fourteen NATO member states including the United States are part of the Multinational Corps Northeast.

The Multinational Corps Northeast based in Szczecin is the only NATO headquarters on the other side of the former Iron Curtain.

There are 14 NATO members at the Szczecin headquarters. The United States joined in 2006 as the ninth member.