US State Dept: No NATO base in Poland

Though Poland has pushed NATO to establish a permanent base on its soil for the past few months, in light of the escalating Ukrainian crisis, the US State Department has ruled out this possibility. In an interview with Rzeczpospolita, John Heffern, the deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department, confirmed that the establishment of a permanent Polish base would not be up for debate at next year's NATO summit in Warsaw.  Heffern stressed that "We want to avoid a serious dispute within the alliance." Though he did not specify who opposed the plan, Germany has traditionally opposed plans for a permanent base on Polish soil.