U.S. is interested in a Polish offer for a permanent U.S. military base, Polish official says

Gen. Wieslaw Kukula, the Polish armed forces chief of staff, right, and Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk, left, discuss strengthening security of Poland's border, May, 27, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland.

WARSAW, Poland — A senior Polish defence official said Wednesday that the United States has expressed interest in potentially establishing a permanent U.S. military base in Poland.

Cezary Tomczyk, Poland’s deputy defence 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’s eastern flank. He said the government’s resolution about the base Tuesday is an invitation to the Americans.

“The Americans are interested in the Polish offer to place a permanent base here,” because it would be financed by both countries, Tomczyk said in an interview at the Defense Ministry in Warsaw.

When asked about the remarks, U.S. Defense Department officials in Washington said they had nothing new to announce.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Poles are doing everything in their power to have such a permanent base but that “the decision will always be on the side of the Americans.”

Around 10,000 U.S. troops are typically stationed in Poland, the majority on a rotational basis.

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.

In May, the U.S. suddenly halted the deployment of 4,000 soldiers to Poland despite the Trump administration considering the country a “model ally” for reaching its NATO target for spending on defence.

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.

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 an additional 5,000 troops to Poland.

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 defence officials since then indicate they believe Poland has a chance to see an increase in permanent U.S. troops.

“Sometimes a rotating model can change into a permanent model and this is always much better,” Defence Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said in mid-May.

Asked whether the Polish resolution came because the U.S. side signaled clear interest in having a permanent base in Poland, Tomczyk said Poland and the U.S. are “in a working dialogue” and that “the next step, after the two sides confirmed they are interested in this, is the official offer from the Polish state.”

“We can’t tell fortune from tea leaves,” Tomczyk said. ”But we are a serious state which is presenting a serious offer to the Americans, in connection with the dialogue we are having with the Americans.”

Claudia Ciobanu, The Associated Press