Poland relocates troops to the eastern borders

Poland will move several thousand troops to the eastern borders of the country due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the country Tomash Semonyak, reports the Assoeded Press.

"The geopolitical situation has changed, we have the largest security crisis since the Cold War, and we must draw conclusions from this," Semonyak said.

According to him, the fullness of three military bases in the east of the country by 2017 will be increased from the current 30 to 90 percent. It is planned to direct more military equipment to the same bases. According to the head of the Ministry of Defense, the decision to transfer the troops was not "nervous or radical." Semonyak explained that, due to "a threatening situation, I would like the associations in the east of Poland to be more effective."

Despite Poland's entry into NATO in 1999, most of its 120,000 military contingent historically was deployed along the western borders. One hundred percent filling of eastern bases was planned only in the event of war.

On October 6, the recently took office, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, visiting Poland, said that the North Atlantic Alliance could place its troops anywhere . Answering the question about the agreements achieved after the Cold War and violated by the Russian policy in Ukraine, he stated: "Next year at the meeting of ministers, we will make decisions regarding the forces of quick response, but even before they are created, NATO has already a strong army. We can place it where we only want."

Against the background of the Ukrainian crisis, the Alliance announced his intention to create a highly mobile advanced group of reaction forces . However, at their last summit in NATO they refused the proposals of the Eastern European countries, including Poland, to place these forces, including thousands of soldiers, on an ongoing basis. Partly the reason for the refusal was the unwillingness to violate the agreement between Russia and NATO of 1997 on the refusal to place constant forces in the east.