5:31 19 May 2026
Warsaw sends ministers to Pentagon
Poland's Defence Ministry dispatched two deputy ministers — Cezary Tomczyk and Paweł Zalewski — to Washington on Monday for emergency consultations at the Pentagon. They carry a message from Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Poland is ready to host a larger American military presence, in direct response to the abrupt cancellation by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth of a planned rotational deployment of around 4,200 troops from the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Armoured Brigade. Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that Poland was at no point informed of any reduction in US forces there, and called the episode an "incident" to be clarified this week. Poland has committed over $50 billion in US arms purchases in recent years and views a robust American presence as a cornerstone of its security architecture.
