WARSAW , Poland, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Polish President Andrzej Duda demanded stronger security guarantees from NATO and a larger presence on Polish soil.
His comments, to the Financial Times, came days after he was sworn into office last week.
“We do not want to be the buffer zone. We want to be the real eastern flank of the alliance … Today, when we look at the dispersion of bases … then the borderline is Germany,” he said.
The conservative Duda has been a vocal critic of Russian annexation of Crimea and has sought a permanent NATO combat presence in Eastern Europe, whose NATO membership includes Poland. The military bloc has instead preferred joint exercises and rotation of troops through the area; a permanent force could be regarded by Russia as a provocation, although Duda said he would regard such a presence as evidence Poland is a full NATO member.
The United States is considering proposals which include storage of military supplies in Eastern Europe for use in the event of an attack there.
“I will do my best in cooperation with the prime minister and defense minister to get more of a NATO presence in Poland. And connected to this is securing more guarantees for Poland and central Eastern Europe,” he said.
Duda added placement of NATO bases in Eastern Europe will be on the agenda at the 2016 NATO summit, which meets in Warsaw.
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