Polish defence minister to travel to US to discuss permanent military base

Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz will meet US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, on Tuesday, 10 November. According to the Polish broadcaster Polsat News, the main topic will be a permanent American military presence in Poland.

The meeting is scheduled for 10:30 local time, which is 16:30 in Poland. Kosiniak-Kamysz said the talks would cover bases, the presence of US troops and the Polish-American alliance.

An earlier visit was cancelled

Last week the minister said there was no difficulty in agreeing a date for the trip, but that he avoided naming one out of caution. He explained this by his experience in September, when a meeting with the head of the Pentagon was cancelled at the last moment because Chinese leader Xi Jinping was visiting the United States.

The meeting comes a week after the US midterm congressional elections, in which the Republican Party lost its majority in both chambers to the Democratic Party.

What is already known

The US side has already decided that a service centre for PAC-3 MSE missiles, used in Patriot air defence systems, will be set up in Poland. The decision was announced in mid-October. The centre's location, construction cost and possible start date remain unknown.

The base question has a earlier step: on 3 June Kosiniak-Kamysz said he had handed the Pentagon chief an official proposal to create a new permanent US troop base in Poland. Poland now expects Donald Trump to keep his promise of an American military base. Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said the planned facility will be called "Fort Trump".