Prime Minister Tusk's reaction after the US suspended the transfer of 4,000 soldiers to Poland. “Never on your knees, always with your forehead up”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pleaded on Monday for an alliance with the US based “on respect and predictability”, stressing that Poland “will always expect to receive from its partners the same thing that it offers”, “never on its knees and always with its forehead up”, in the context of the suspension of the transfer of 4,000 American soldiers to bases in Poland, reports EFE, taken over by Agerpres.
In a press conference organized after the signing of the contract on a maintenance center for Abrams tanks in Deblin (east of the country), Tusk stated that there is “no alternative to cooperation with the US”, noting that Washington will not find anywhere else a “more loyal ally” than Poland.
The head of the Polish government insisted that transatlantic security depends on “mutual trust, which must prevail even in the face of turbulence” or current strategy changes.
These statements come shortly after it was learned that Washington had suspended the transfer of 4,000 troops to bases in Poland, a decision that Warsaw recognized as having a logistical nature.
For his part, the Polish Minister of Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, emphasized during the same press conference that any military reorganization of Washington on the continent “must not affect the most important US ally in Europe: Poland”.
Kosiniak-Kamysz pointed out that Poland invests “about 15,000 dollars a year for every American soldier” on its territory, and the volume of arms purchases from the US exceeds 50 billion dollars, which necessitates “a frank dialogue” and “no surprises”.
Speaking earlier to Tok FM radio station, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski described the suspension of the rotation of 4,000 soldiers as “a setback” that the government will review this week.
Zalewski expressed surprise at the “sudden and hasty” manner in which the Pentagon handled the issue, regretting the “lack of transparency that was previously common” between the two allies.
The Chief of Staff, Wieslaw Kukula, will meet on Tuesday in the capital of Poland with the American General Alexus Grynkewich, and Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz will have a meeting on Wednesday with General Dan Caine, the Chief of the Joint Staff of the US Armed Forces. In addition, Zalewski himself will travel to Washington this week to “get straight answers.”
