Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said Wednesday that a member of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's team is currently in Warsaw negotiating potential base locations with Polish counterparts, chiefly Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Zalewski.
"The next 48 hours in these Polish-American relations is key", Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said, speaking after she took part in signing a separate U.S.-Poland agreement guaranteeing credit for Polish purchases of American military equipment under Washington's Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
Western Poland has emerged as the leading candidate region, both for the proposed base and for related joint-venture investment projects with the U.S., she said, describing the regional focus as a condition set by American negotiators. "We, of course, understand that requirement", she added, while declining to give further detail until talks conclude.
A separate American delegation is due to inspect prospective base sites Thursday and Friday, Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda said earlier Wednesday in an interview with broadcaster TVP Info. Bejda characterized the site visits as "the beginning of very serious talks".
Sobkowiak-Czarnecka added that Thomas DiNanno, the U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, is spending both Wednesday and Thursday in Poland and will tour several locations, though she said specifics would be released later. "Give me time until tomorrow for more specifics, when this visit, extremely important for us, will be completed", she said.
The push follows a formal offer Poland made in May to host a permanent American base on its soil. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said June 18, after meeting with Hegseth, that Washington had responded favorably to the proposal — though he cautioned the response did not represent a final decision.
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Source: PAP