A decision by the Pentagon to scrap a planned deployment of around 4,000 US troops to Poland has rattled Polish politicians, who have long assumed that the alliance with Washington is unbreakable – as long as Poland remains America’s most loyal ally in Europe.
The US move triggered a political dispute in Washington and forced Warsaw and NATO to reassure allies that security on the eastern flank has not been weakened – which might be the case since changes to the US military presence in Europe are expected to affect Romania and the Baltic States as well.
The controversy centres on the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, which the US Army announced on March 6 would rotate to Europe as part of a routine replacement cycle under Operation Atlantic Resolve.
The unit’s deployment was halted after some personnel and equipment were already on the move to Poland, US media reported last week.
While the Pentagon rejected suggestions that the decision had been improvised and insisted that it followed a “comprehensive, multilayered process,” both senior military officials in Washington, DC, and lawmakers in Congress appeared surprised and angered.
Acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve told lawmakers the decision was “relatively recent,” while US defence media, such as Stars and Stripes, reported that army leaders had been informed only days earlier, after equipment had already been sent toward Europe.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon described the handling as “reprehensible” and “a slap in the face to Poland,” according to US media.
Polish leadership appeared flummoxed by the move, assuring on the one hand of the continued stalwart alliance with the US but also sending signals of disappointment by being treated unlike the “model ally,” as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had described Poland not long ago.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the US decisions were “logistical” and did not threaten Poland’s security, according to the Polish government.
Poland’s defence planning is built around the expectation that the US would respond swiftly in the event of a major security crisis, including a possible Russian attack. The Pentagon’s unilateral decision therefore triggered public assurances of alliance loyalty alongside frustration.
“You have the most loyal ally. It is worth remembering that, because America will not find a better ally anywhere,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on May 18.
“We are a proven and reliable ally, which is why we expect partnership, friendship and a good exchange of information,” Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
Some 10,000 US soldiers and civilian defence personnel remain in Poland. The country is also one of Europe’s biggest purchasers of US military equipment as it has been building deterrence capabilities against Russia since the latter's takeover of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Security policy is usually an area of broad political consensus in Poland. Aides to President Karol Nawrocki said he was ready to back the government over the issue.
“The government can certainly count on the president’s support, because this is a priority issue — a matter of Poland’s security,” Marcin Przydacz, Nawrocki’s foreign policy aide, said.
Still, Przydacz suggested that Tusk’s recent remarks in an interview with The Financial Times, in which he questioned whether the US was “loyal” to Europe’s defence, may have angered the US.
“We urge the government above all to rein in this anti-American narrative,” Przydacz said.
Meanwhile, senior Polish defence ministry officials are in Washington this week to seek clarification over the cancellation.
Other meetings of top officials are scheduled in Warsaw, involving Kosiniak-Kamysz, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Wiesław Kukuła, and US generals Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Alexus Grynkewich, commander of US and NATO forces in Europe.
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