WARSAW, June 17– Poland moves closer to hosting a permanent U.S. military base by approving a government resolution on Tuesday to authorize the defense minister to begin preparations.
The move came less than a month after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to deploy an additional 5,000 American troops to Poland, underscoring Warsaw’s growing role on NATO’s eastern flank and highlighting the country’s broader ambition to build one of Europe’s strongest armed forces.
Under the resolution, the Polish government will begin preparations for a permanent U.S. military base, including infrastructure, logistics, financing and accommodation for American troops.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stressed that Warsaw must prepare now rather than wait for Washington to implement Trump’s pledge, ensuring the U.S. troops have the necessary infrastructure and facilities upon arrival.
As a NATO member, Poland has become a major transit hub for Western military aid to Ukraine since 2022.
The establishment of the U.S. Army Garrison Poland in 2023 further strengthened the U.S. military presence in the country, which typically hosts around 10,000 American troops.
Yet most of the existing infrastructure has been geared toward supporting rotational deployments rather than permanently stationed U.S. forces.
The government’s latest resolution is therefore seen as laying the groundwork for a more enduring U.S. military presence in the country. Beyond closer defense ties with Washington, the move reflects Poland’s broader ambition to transform itself into one of Europe’s leading military powers through sustained investment and force modernization.
In recent years, Warsaw has sharply increased defense spending, accelerated military procurement and expanded the size of its armed forces amid a rapidly evolving regional security environment.
According to the latest report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Poland ranked 14th globally in military expenditure in 2025.
Its defense spending reached 46.8 billion U.S. dollars, marking a 23-percent year-on-year increase and accounting for 4.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Compared with 2016, Poland’s military expenditure has surged by 207 percent, making it one of the fastest-growing defense budgets in Europe.
Poland has also signed a series of major arms contracts with the United States and South Korea, covering tanks, helicopters, and missile launchers, while seeking to expand its domestic defense industry and troop strength.
The Security Action for Europe agreement is also widely seen as the culmination of six years of efforts by the Polish government to strengthen the country’s armed forces.
By providing access to large-scale European financing for defense projects, the mechanism is expected to accelerate military modernization and reinforce Poland’s role as NATO’s frontline state.
“The defense budget today reaches 200 billion zlotys (about 54.8 billion dollars). The strategic goal of the Ministry of Defense is to increase the number of soldiers in the army to 500 thousand, including 300 thousand professional soldiers and 200 thousand reservists,” said Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
