Poland has intensified its demands for a permanent NATO troop presence in the country, in its neverending fight with alleged "Russian agression", which was hardly ever as significant as Warsaw would have others believe. Warsaw is hosting the summit of heads of NATO member states in July and has already made it clear that the summit's agenda will be stepping up deterrence measures against Russia on the alliance's eastern flank.
During a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, President Andrzej Duda said he wanted to see "as permanent a presence as possible" of NATO troops in Poland so that a "potential attacker" knows that the attack on member states won't pay off.
While Poland presses NATO, its western allies highly doubt that showing teeth at a so-called "potential attacker" is a good idea.
Certain member countries appear to have an especially hard time compromising due to Poland's obsession with the idea of a "persistent" NATO military presence in the east becoming "permanent".
The United Kingdom currently refrains from openly criticizing the Polish government as London relies on its support in negotiations aimed at keeping Britain in the European Union ahead of a referendum on "Brexit" in June. Poland has offered to help David Cameron limit the rights of EU migrants if the prime minister in return drops his opposition to a permanent base of NATO troops on Polish territory.
Meanwhile, the US doesn't want to aggravate tensions with Russia by breaching the 1997 Founding Act with NATO which bans the permanent stationing of significant forces and equipment in former Warsaw Pact states.
At a Thursday joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Warsaw, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski complained that NATO's current efforts are not enough.
"A few years ago, it was assumed that [the eastern flank's security] could be guaranteed through a support mechanism, a spearhead," he said. "Today, this position is evolving and is starting to head in the direction of security guarantees being fulfilled through… a presence of allied troops."
