Daily Times

The US and Poland finalised a deal on Wednesday for Warsaw to buy American mobile rocket launchers worth $414 million (365 million euros) as it lobbies Washington to boost troops on Polish soil.

“We are pleased to partner with you in Poland’s national defence,” US Vice President Mike Pence said in Warsaw as the deal was inked in an air hangar filled with Polish and US troops.

It means that “Poland is taking its place among the most capable and formidable nations in the world,” he added, underscoring that US will “always” stand with NATO ally Poland.

His comments were echoed by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has lobbied Washington hard for a permanent US military presence in Poland.

The purchase will have “a huge impact not only on strengthening the defense potential of Poland and the Polish army but will also increase security in our part of Europe, on the eastern flank of the Atlantic Alliance,” Duda said.

The first stage of the acquisition of “20 HIMARS systems” will go ahead in 2023, he added. Pence and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are headlining a conference in Warsaw on security issues in the Middle East on Wednesday and Thursday that the US is co-hosting with Poland.

Published in Daily Times, February 14^th 2019.