“I view this with concern. Historically speaking, the goal of the USSR was a zone free of American troops, which was to include West Germany,” said former head of the National Security Bureau, Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, commenting on the U.S. decision to withdraw 5,000 American soldiers from Germany.
The Pentagon has decided to withdraw 5,000 American troops from German territory, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced. “The decision is the result of a thorough review of the Pentagon’s force posture in Europe and reflects the needs and conditions in the region. We expect the withdrawal operation to take between 6 and 12 months,” the Pentagon spokesman indicated.
“We are working with the United States to understand the details of their decisions regarding forces in Germany. This change underscores the need for further increased European investment in defense and a greater share of responsibility for our collective security – where we have already seen progress since allies agreed to invest 5 percent of GDP at last year’s NATO summit in The Hague,” commented NATO spokesperson Allison Hart.
The issue of withdrawing troops from Germany was raised during a discussion among the authors of the book “Reset. How Tusk Brought Russia into Poland” during a signing event. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, former head of the National Security Bureau, admitted that “he views this with concern”.
“Historically speaking, the goal of the USSR was a zone free of American troops, which was to include West Germany. The famous Rapacki Plan – a nuclear-free zone. Jacek Kuroń’s concept of a nuclear-free zone also meant the demilitarization of Germany by the United States. Of course, we tend to look at this from a somewhat wishful perspective, thinking that these 5,000 American soldiers whom the U.S. wants to rotate will end up in Poland. This is not at all obvious. Besides, there must be somewhere to rotate them in Poland,” Cenckiewicz said.
Asked to elaborate, he stated that “we need to build Fort Trump, that is, infrastructure to receive the troops”.
“American bases in Germany have the status of permanent bases – so there is full infrastructure there for the normal, family life of American soldiers. The status of U.S. troops in Poland is temporary and rotational. The only permanent U.S. base is in Redzikowo. The goal of Polish policy must be the permanence of the American presence in Poland. For this to happen, Poland must create the right conditions and also make diplomatic and political efforts. This is the focus of Karol Nawrocki’s efforts in Polish-American relations. (…) However, to govern, you need a government, and this one approaches the issue – as we all know – more or less as Donald Tusk says, and then Kosiniak-Kamysz comes out and says he is pro-American, but conducts an exegesis of Tusk’s words and claims that his anti-American statements stem “from concern” for our ally,” the former head of the National Security Bureau added.
A LIVE broadcast from the book signing session featuring Michał Rachoń, Sławomir Cenckiewicz and Grzegorz Wierzchołowski is available on the 13th Floor channel.
At present, it is not yet known where the troops withdrawn from Germany will be sent. The entire process of withdrawing the 5,000 soldiers is expected to take between 6 and 12 months.
CBS News, citing U.S. Department of Defense officials, reported that the troops are to return to the United States and then likely be redeployed to the Indo-Pacific region.
Connor Stringer, The Telegraph’s Washington correspondent, indicated that his sources point to other options – relocation to Poland, Romania, or the Middle East. He also noted not to “rule out Greenland.”
