https://sputnikglobe.com/20240422/poland-confirms-absurd-desire-to-host-us-nuclear-weapons---in-violation-of-nato-pledges-1118062179.html
Poland Confirms Absurd Desire to Host US Nuclear Weapons - in Violation of NATO Pledges
Poland Confirms Absurd Desire to Host US Nuclear Weapons - in Violation of NATO Pledges
Sputnik International
Zakharova denounces the “invitation” from Polish president Andrzej Duda for US nuclear weapons to be deployed in Poland. But the dangerous trend is there since 2015, challenging all laws and agreements.
2024-04-22T18:51+0000
2024-04-22T18:51+0000
2024-04-22T18:51+0000
andrzej duda
mateusz piskorski
poland
russia
eastern europe
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maria zakharova
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During his visit to New York City, Polish president Andrzej Duda said in an interview to Polish daily Fakt that his nation would be ready to host nuclear weapons of other NATO member states on its territory.This is an unprecedented “invitation” for Eastern Europe. So far, under the “nuclear sharing” concept cited by Duda as the basis for his proposal, the US has deployed nuclear weapons only in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.The Russian foreign ministry immediately denounced Duda's statement. “American nuclear weapons on Polish territory will be part of the list of legitimate targets [for Russian forces] in case of Russia’s conflict with NATO,” said Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman.Zakharova also called Duda’s statement “provocative” and noted that it was not something unexpected. “Polish authorities have been making this ambition public for a long time – their desire to lean on the US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe,” she said.Indeed, the Polish ministry of defense and Poland’s top diplomats have been calling for Poland’s participation in the “nuclear sharing” program since 2015. On April 3, 2022, then Polish vice-premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski said his country was “open to the deployment on its territory of American nuclear weapons.”After Duda’s statement, published on April 22, it became clear that Poland’s stance was not altered by the defeat of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PIS) party in the elections to the Sejm parliament in November 2023.Poland joined NATO in 1999 and assumed all the previous obligations and agreements of the North-Atlantic bloc, including the Founding Act on NATO-Russia relations, a framework document, signed by the presidents of Russia and NATO countries in May 1997.The Founding Act includes a provision that “NATO countries have no intentions, plans or reasons for deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of new member states… and see no reason to do it in future.”However, some Polish officials have been saying since 2015 that they are not bound by the Founding Act, which had been signed before Poland became a NATO member.This is an obvious case of lawlessness on Warsaw's part, since all NATO states are bound by NATO’s standing collective agreements, no matter when each individual state joined the alliance.Piskorski recalls that this is not the first precedent of NATO members reneging on their previous agreements with Russia.In 2022, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel assured the international community that the US “had no intention” to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of new NATO members.It remains to be seen if the US will resist the “temptation” to accept Poland's invitation.Piskorski says the presence of American nuclear weapons is certainly not in Poland’s national interest — and not a tradition. “In the 1950s [socialist] Poland’s foreign minister Adam Rapacki suggested the creation of a nuclear-free, peaceful zone on the territory of Central and Eastern Europe. What we see now from Polish politicians is the opposite to what Rapacki proposed,” he said.
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poland ready to host us nuclear weapons, founding act russia-nato on deployment, first precedent, nuclear sharing, eastern europe
poland ready to host us nuclear weapons, founding act russia-nato on deployment, first precedent, nuclear sharing, eastern europe
Poland Confirms Absurd Desire to Host US Nuclear Weapons - in Violation of NATO Pledges
Moscow has denounced the “invitation” from Polish president Andrzej Duda for US nuclear weapons to be deployed in his country. But the dangerous trend has been there since 2015, challenging all laws and agreements.
During his visit to New York City, Polish president Andrzej Duda said in an interview to Polish daily Fakt that his nation would be ready to host nuclear weapons of other NATO member states on its territory.
This is an unprecedented “invitation” for Eastern Europe. So far, under the “nuclear sharing” concept cited by Duda as the basis for his proposal, the US has deployed nuclear weapons only in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
“The American authorities are not particularly willing [to deploy nukes in Poland], they understand the risks, that such a step would entail,” Mateusz Piskorski, Warsaw-based political observer and columnist for the Mysl Polska newspaper, told Sputnik. “However, [such a proposal] is certainly a way to unavoidable escalation. If indeed nuclear weapons are deployed in Poland, this would create a real threat for Poland’s security.”
The Russian foreign ministry immediately denounced Duda's statement. “American nuclear weapons on Polish territory will be part of the list of legitimate targets [for Russian forces] in case of Russia’s conflict with NATO,” said Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman.
Zakharova also called Duda’s statement “provocative” and noted that it was not something unexpected. “Polish authorities have been making this ambition public for a long time – their desire to lean on the US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe,” she said.
Indeed, the Polish ministry of defense and Poland’s top diplomats have been calling for Poland’s participation in the “nuclear sharing” program since 2015. On April 3, 2022, then Polish vice-premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski said his country was “open to the deployment on its territory of American nuclear weapons.”
After Duda’s statement, published on April 22, it became clear that Poland’s stance was not altered by the defeat of Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PIS) party in the elections to the Sejm parliament in November 2023.
Poland joined NATO in 1999 and assumed all the previous obligations and agreements of the North-Atlantic bloc, including the Founding Act on NATO-Russia relations, a framework document, signed by the presidents of Russia and NATO countries in May 1997.
The Founding Act includes a provision that “NATO countries have no intentions, plans or reasons for deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of new member states… and see no reason to do it in future.”
However, some Polish officials have been saying since 2015 that they are not bound by the Founding Act, which had been signed before Poland became a NATO member.
This is an obvious case of lawlessness on Warsaw's part, since all NATO states are bound by NATO’s standing collective agreements, no matter when each individual state joined the alliance.
Piskorski recalls that this is not the first precedent of NATO members reneging on their previous agreements with Russia.
“NATO leaders, headed by the US, promised to [Mikhail Gorbachev and Eduard Shevardnadze] back in Soviet times that NATO would not expand… There were also numerous promises not to deploy nuclear weapons and other dangerous armaments on the territory of new members of the alliance. And look what happened,” Piskorski told Sputnik.
In 2022, US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel assured the international community that the US “had no intention” to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of new NATO members.
It remains to be seen if the US will resist the “temptation” to accept Poland's invitation.
Piskorski says the presence of American nuclear weapons is certainly not in Poland’s national interest — and not a tradition. “In the 1950s [socialist] Poland’s foreign minister Adam Rapacki suggested the creation of a nuclear-free, peaceful zone on the territory of Central and Eastern Europe. What we see now from Polish politicians is the opposite to what Rapacki proposed,” he said.
