U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance stated on Thursday in an interview with Fox News that he would be “shocked” if President Donald Trump decided to deploy nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe. However, he clarified that this was solely his opinion, as he had not discussed the matter with the President.
Vice President Vance made this remark when asked about an interview given by Polish President Andrzej Duda to the “Financial Times,” in which Duda called on the U.S. to station nuclear weapons on Polish territory as a deterrent against potential Russian aggression.
Andrzej Duda assessed that “NATO’s borders moved eastward in 1999, so 26 years later, there should also be a shift of NATO infrastructure to the east.” He expressed hope for the expansion of the Nuclear Sharing project in Europe, which he unsuccessfully proposed in 2022 to the administration of then-U.S. President Joe Biden.
The decision to increase nuclear presence in Poland fits into the broader context of our country’s cooperation with NATO and the USA. Twenty-six years after joining the North Atlantic Alliance, Poland is becoming one of the pillars of regional security.
Wojciech Kolarski, a minister in the Chancellery of the President of Poland, in an interview with TV Republika, recalls that President Duda already in July 2023 recommended the government consider Poland’s participation in the Nuclear Sharing program. This initiative is not only a reaction to the war in Ukraine but also a well-thought-out long-term deterrence strategy.