German Troops May Head to Poland to Support NATO

(Daily360.com) – For the first time since World War II, German troops may be stationed on Polish soil. The news comes after Andrzej Szejna, the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister, said the troops would be welcome along the country’s eastern flank to defend against potential Russian entanglements. Szenja’s comments mark a drastic shift from Warsaw regarding Germany. The caution and hostility from the Poles stems from Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 that began WWII.

Once Vladimir Putin gave the order for Russian forces to invade Ukraine in 2022, some have feared that if Russia were able to conquer Ukraine they may eventually advance on Poland. Prior to the recent Polish elections, the former German ambassador to Poland inquired about the possibility of German troops entering Poland to defend against Russia. Polish officials immediately refused the offer. The leader of Poland’s conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was adamant while campaigning in 2023 for re-election that German troops would not be welcome in Poland under any circumstance. He said it would be at least “seven generations” before such a thing could even be considered.

However, Kaczynski failed to win re-election and his opponent Donald Tusk viewed the German troops option quite differently. Szejna said if the German troops can strengthen NATO’s operations along Poland’s border, their government will welcome the help. He pointed to a Russian rocket that was launched and struck a few hundred miles from the Polish border.

Szejna heaped praise on Germany calling them both allies and “economic friends” of Poland. The Deputy Foreign Minister then took aim at the defeated Kaczynski by saying the new government “will not succumb” to his anti-European sentiments. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned that if Russia were to be victorious in Ukraine they will likely attack a NATO nation soon thereafter. Putin has denied that he would attack any NATO nation and has maintained it is NATO’s advancement and broken promises that caused the war with Ukraine.