Poland Eyes December Deadline for Permanent US Base as Pentagon Signals Approval

WARSAW — A White House decision on establishing a permanent US military base in Poland could arrive as early as next month, the country’s defense minister said after talks with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.

In a statement issued following Tuesday’s meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Hegseth described the proposal’s status as “everything is going in a good direction.” Kosiniak-Kamysz read the reply as a “green light” from the Pentagon for a lasting US troop presence, while noting that the final call belongs to the White House.

He said that decision is anticipated in early December.

“The permanent presence of US troops in Poland is our absolute priority, and we will not let this matter drop,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

“This is likely my most important and ground-breaking visit to the US,” he added. “I can say with confidence that Poland is not only a model ally of the United States, but has become its strategic partner.”

A Pentagon readout of Tuesday’s meeting said Hegseth praised Poland’s leadership within NATO as European allies take on a larger share of responsibility for their conventional defense. The two officials also signed a Statement of Intent to deepen bilateral defense industrial cooperation, building on Poland’s rising defense spending and expanding role in the US industrial base.

“Whether it’s committing nearly 5 percent of gross domestic product to defense and turning that investment into ready forces and sustained combat power, Poland is building one of the most formidable armies in Europe, prepared to secure and defend its territory,” Hegseth said in a statement.

The Defense Department did not respond to Breaking Defense’s request for comment ahead of publication.

Warsaw has narrowed the potential site to four locations: Bydgoszcz, Poznań, Szczecin and Wrocław. All four sit west of the Vistula River, which Kosiniak-Kamysz said matches US preferences.

Each site already hosts Polish, US or NATO military infrastructure, among them NATO command facilities in Bydgoszcz and Szczecin and the US Army’s forward headquarters in Poznań. Wrocław lies close to the major training grounds at Żagań and Świętoszów and enjoys access to the A4 motorway and airport facilities built to support military airlift operations.

The proposed installation would need to house as many as 25,000 people, including roughly 5,000 US troops along with their families and support personnel, Kosiniak-Kamysz told the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Tuesday. Poland has offered to shoulder the infrastructure costs, which Kosiniak-Kamysz estimated in September at between 15 billion and 17 billion zlotys ($3.8 billion to $4.4 billion).

“We are ready. We have prepared the sites, and we are prepared to build the necessary infrastructure and secure the required funding,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

Kosiniak-Kamysz has argued that a permanent US presence would bolster Poland’s security and its standing on NATO’s eastern flank, while freeing Polish forces to take on a larger share of regional security.

The talks unfold as the Trump administration presses to rebalance NATO under its “NATO 3.0” concept, which envisions European allies assuming primary responsibility for the continent’s conventional defense as the US pivots toward other regions.

Kosiniak-Kamysz has previously said the shift could open the door to deeper transatlantic defense industrial cooperation. In October, he urged US companies to move production lines and maintenance facilities to Europe — including for Patriot missile systems — and to pursue joint ventures with European manufacturers.

Tuesday’s discussions also covered Poland’s request to buy Tomahawk cruise missiles and their associated launchers, Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters afterward. He said that, several months after submitting the request, the Pentagon had issued a “positive recommendation” on the proposed sale, though the final decision rests with Congress.

Separately, the US Defense Department announced in October that Poland had been chosen to host the first Patriot PAC-3 missile maintenance facility outside the United States, a step meant to strengthen missile sustainment capabilities in Europe and deepen bilateral defense industrial ties.

Speaking on Monday at the Transatlantic Defense Industry Access Forum in Warsaw, Polish Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defence Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said the time had come to expand the two nations’ long-standing defense industrial relationship.

“I think the decision two weeks ago to place the first Patriot PAC-3 missile service center in the world outside the US on Polish territory is terrific evidence of a new chapter in the trade relationship between the United States and Poland,” Sobkowiak-Czarnecka said.

Ashley Roque contributed to this report.

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