Two weeks ago the Pentagon announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from NATO ally Germany, in part due to a widening rift over the Iran war between Trump and Europe. It was unclear whether the Poland decision was aimed at accomplishing that drawdown, as US troops reorganise in Europe, as one US official told Reuters.
The US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the troops that were meant to rotate into Poland might instead come from elsewhere.
Still, LaNeve declined to speculate about rotations of troops into Poland from elsewhere in Europe, saying that would be up to the commander of US troops in Europe.
Don Bacon, a Republican lawmaker from Nebraska, said he spoke with officials in Poland and said they were blindsided by a decision he called “reprehensible” and “an embarrassment to our country”.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had received assurances that Poland‘s security would not be impacted by any decisions on the US troop presence.
“I received assurances, and this is also important to me, that these decisions are of a logistical nature and will not directly affect deterrence capabilities and our security,” he told a news conference on Friday.
The US has been reviewing its troop presence in Europe and has long been expected to scale it back following demands from Trump that NATO take a larger role in the defence of Europe. The Pentagon has not yet detailed how it envisions future troop laydowns across the continent.
Even as lawmakers expressed exasperation and confusion over the Poland decision, the Pentagon said it followed “a comprehensive, multilayered process.”
“This was not an unexpected, last-minute decision, and it would be false to report it as such,” Pentagon spokesperson Joel Valdez said.