On Thursday, the American leader told Fox News that the United States could do without NATO's help. "We never needed them, we never really asked them for anything" - Trump said. According to him, non-US NATO troops "stayed a little behind, a little away from the front lines" during the mission in Afghanistan.
During Sunday's New Year's Eve meeting of the Polish Peasants' Party held in Lublin, its leader - Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak Kamysz - recalled that 43 Polish Army soldiers and one paramedic died in the mission in Afghanistan, and 23 soldiers in Iraq.
"860 people were injured and are veterans injured in missions outside Poland" - he emphasized. "This cannot be passed over in silence. They did not stand behind. They shielded our allies from the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and every allied country, with their own bodies" - Kosiniak-Kamysz continued.
He pointed out that Polish soldiers are currently serving abroad as part of 10 military contingents, including in Latvia, Romania, Iraq, Lebanon, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Central African Republic, and Turkey. "They don't hide behind anyone" - the Defense Minister said, adding that Poland is a very loyal ally as it participated in all operations where its presence was requested.
"I will always maintain transatlantic relations, but maintaining relationships with friends also means speaking openly about what we don't like. Still, we are very grateful for the presence of every American soldier on Polish soil, we will care for them as if they were our own soldiers, because they are allied soldiers - and I know they will stand behind us when we need them" - the Deputy Prime Minister continued.
Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz concluded by stating that he would "strongly demand honor and respect for all who serve in the Polish Army", and especially for the families of those who gave their lives "for our freedom and yours" on various fronts.
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Source: PAP