The vast majority of Poles are in favor of the decision to permanently station U.S. Fifth Corps headquarters in Poland, according to the latest polling published by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.
The survey, carried out by the IBRiS research center, showed 88 percent of respondents backing the decision, while just 4 percent opposed it.
The decision to create a permanent presence of the command of the U.S. Fifth Corps in Poland was announced at the Madrid NATO summit by U.S. President Joe Biden. The forward command presence has been in Poznań since the autumn of 2020.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. announced its intention to transfer the headquarters of the Fifth Corps to Europe, as well as more troops from Fort Knox to both Germany and Poland. According to the Pentagon, these will be the first permanent units on NATO’s eastern flank, while the rotational presence will also be enhanced.
The head of the Polish President’s National Security Office Paweł Soloch told reporters after the NATO summit that the U.S. is getting prepared, in the event of a threat, to be able to commit forces the size of a corps or even several tens of thousands of troops. According to Polish President Andrzej Duda, 300 U.S. officers will be stationed permanently in Poland.
The U.S. Fifth Corps participated in recent DEFENDER-Europe 2022 exercises held in Poland and other European states. In the face of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the U.S. has transferred a tank brigade to Germany and an infantry brigade to Rzeszów, Poland, in addition to an artillery battalion and fighter planes.
These moves mean there are now over 100,000 U.S. troops stationed in Europe. According to NATO data, 11,600 foreign troops from the U.S., U.K., Croatia, and Romania are stationed in Poland.
