Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country will not be sending troops to the Middle East to assist the US in its military operations against Iran.
“Poland will not send its troops to Iran. This conflict does not directly affect our security,” said Tusk, speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Tusk, who leads Poland’s centre-left coalition government, also declared that the conflict does not directly affect his country’s national security, adding: “Warsaw has other tasks within NATO and our allies understand this.
“This applies to our land, air and naval forces. What we have at our disposal must serve the security of the Baltic,” said Tusk.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, held out an olive branch saying that his country would be willing to discuss calls by US President Donald Trump for NATO allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, “out of respect for our American ally”.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki, a Trump ally and commander in chief of the Polish armed forces, has already ruled out direct Polish military involvement in the ongoing US operations in the Middle East.
Some 10,000 US troops are currently stationed on Polish soil and Poland has over the past decade been regarded as a model ally because it has ramped up its defence spending as a percentage of GDP to NATO’s highest level at almost 5 per cent.
Back in the 1990s, Poland sent troops to fight with the US in Afghanistan and, significantly, supported the US in Iraq with a contingent of troops who were involved in military operations in that country.
But over Iran Poland has adopted a similar line to other European states in giving the cold shoulder to Trump’s calls for NATO allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway between Iran, the UAE and Oman through which around 20 per cent of the world’s supply of oil and liquid natural gas transits.
The US president warned on March 15 that a “negative response” from allies regarding his calls for international involvement could be “very bad for the future of NATO”.
Trump has often been critical of NATO, long accusing member states of not taking enough responsibility for their own security and relying too heavily on Washington.
With the exception of defensive or evacuation operations, Washington’s NATO allies have been reluctant to become involved in the Iran conflict, citing lessons learned from the drawn out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last couple decades as well as questions regarding the legality of US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The US and Israel have been conducting air strikes against Iran since February 28.
Iran has responded with attacks on Israel and Gulf states, targeting US military bases as well as civilian sites.
By launching attacks on merchant ships, Tehran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade has led to a steep jump in global oil prices, prompting governments around the world to release emergency oil reserves in an effort to soften the economic blow.
