Mark Toth said a base in Poland should expand the US military presence in Europe rather than compensate for cuts elsewhere. A permanent US military base in Poland would send a “major message” to Vladimir Putin but should also reinforce rather than replace American forces elsewhere in Europe, a security expert has told TVP World. Mark Toth, co-founder of INTREP360, a global firm specializing in US national security and foreign policy analysis, said establishing the proposed base would be “a very good thing.” “I think it should be adding to US force posture in Europe, not subtracting or withdrawing from Western Europe, countries like Germany and the like, to do it,” he said. His remarks came after US broadcaster NBC News reported on Thursday that the Pentagon was considering withdrawing about 25,000 US troops from Europe, with one scenario involving cuts of up to 40,000. Germany, Italy and Spain are likely to be among the countries most affected. Some forces could instead be moved to NATO countries in Eastern Europe, closer to Russia, NBC News reported. About 80,000 American troops are currently stationed across Europe, including roughly 10,000 in Poland on a rotational basis. ‘There’s a lot of blowback’ Toth described the prospect of a large-scale pull back as a mistake. “This idea of drawing down US troops is a bad one,” he said. “There’s a lot of blowback already—bipartisan blowback from Democrats and Republicans alike on Capitol Hill.” The NBC report came on the same day US President Donald Trump said “major progress” had been made toward establishing a US Army base in Poland and that its location could be announced “very soon” if the plan went ahead. Toth said a permanent deployment in Poland would demonstrate Washington’s commitment to NATO’s eastern flank. “Showing Putin that the United States is willing to position forces right up there on the border with Belarus, I think, would be a major message,” he said. “I think Poland has earned that right,” he added, pointing to Warsaw’s sharp increase in defense spending in recent years.
Stationing US troops close to Moscow-aligned Belarus border would send a ‘major message’ to Vladimir Putin, Mark Toth said. (Getty Images)
