No new US troops to Poland: what does it mean?
The US has called off plans to deploy 4,000 US troops to Poland. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Washington not to jeopardise its friendship with Warsaw: "America won't find a better ally anywhere." At the beginning of May US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth also announced the withdrawal of around 5,000 US troops from Germany.
Brussels should fill the gap
Gazeta Wyborcza is hoping for Europe to step up:
“We will have to get used to the fact that there will be several thousand fewer troops on Polish territory. Paradoxically there could be a positive side to this. ... To improve its defence capabilities, the EU has taken on debt as a bloc. Now it's time to take the next step. The US might be the most important military power in Nato, but it's certainly not the only one. Sending European troops to fill the gap that has been created by suspending the rotation of American troops in Poland would send a clear signal.”
US wants to minimise its risks
Former politician and Delfi columnist Egidijus Bičkauskas sees Lithuania in an awkward position:
“There are only two rational conclusions to be drawn here. Either the US intelligence services and diplomatic corps currently see no real threat from Russia and therefore consider large military deployments in the region to be unnecessary. Or – if they do perceive a threat here – the US has no intention of becoming embroiled in a direct military conflict for the sake of Eastern Europe. Neither scenario is good news for Vilnius. ... This shows there is a shift in US global strategy away from the unhesitating fulfillment of regional commitments and towards minimising its own risk.”