POLAND INKS DEAL TO ENHANCE US TROOP PRESENCE

The United States has signed a deal with Poland to boost the US military presence in the eastern EU member by another 1,000 troops and make Poland the headquarters of the leadership of the US Army V Corps, Krzysztof Bastian wrote for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) on August 15, 2020.

The deal, called the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), was signed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Poland's Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.

At present, some 4,500 US military personnel are stationed in the European NATO member. In late July, the US Department of Defense announced new plans to withdraw 11,900 US military personnel from Germany, reducing its presence there from 36,000 down to 24,000.

Nearly 5,600 service members are to be repositioned within NATO countries, while 6,400 are to return to the US, with many conducting rotational deployments to Europe. The rotating troops could be deployed to Poland, north-eastern Europe in the vicinity of the Baltics, and the south-east near the Black Sea, the Pentagon said.