WARSAW (AFP) Jan 08, 2004 - The Polish government has offered to let the United States build a major military base on its territory, although to ease worries about the move in neighbouring Russia the facility is likely to be build in the west of the country, the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza said on Thursday.
A spokesman for the defence ministry, which the paper said had made the offer, refused to comment but did not deny the report.

"No decision has been made and it is too soon to talk about it," spokesman Adam Stasinski told AFP.

Gazeta Wyborcza said the ministry had proposed the small western Polish town of Powidz, already the site of a military airstrip, as the site for the future base.

It also quoted an unnamed Polish civil servant as saying that a delegation from the US State Department which had recently visited Moscow had sought to allay Russian fears about the building of a base in Poland, and had noted Russia's desire to not see the base sited to the east of the River Vistula, which runs south-north through the capital Warsaw to the Baltic Sea port of Gdansk.

"The United States has submitted an overall plan for a new deployment of their armed forces, and we are drawing up proposals which meet their expectations," the Polish official was quoted as saying.

Powidz, which is 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the city of Poznan, already hosts a large military air base, which the unnamed official said was "comparable to the US base at Ramstein in Germany."

Polish officials, including Prime Minister Leszek Miller, have on several occasions said they are in favour of hosting US military bases.

The issue was discussed with US Deputy Defense Secretary Douglas Feith when he visited Warsaw on December 8 last year.

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Poland was part of the communist bloc. It joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999, and is due to become a member of the European Union in May this year.
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Wot do you lot think, is it just to get closer to Russia ?

It's a basic imperial move to extend control and dominate markets and natural resources.

Imperialism: extending control outward while funneling wealth inward.

[Edited on 18-2-2004 by Condorcet]

Hmm ive been to Poland alot concerning my mother has parents there hmm theres and airport around the vicinity in Warsaw but im not too sure of the distance.

Will this benifit Poland and will the Americans use this to say that this is ure reward for helping us with the war ?

I say we should have LESS bases around the world. We are the only one with them.

China does not have bases around the world, but people do not doubt their ability to defend themselves or to use military strength.

I had heard some rumors of a US base in Poland for a while now. I believe the goal is to get a base in Europe where the restrictions on training are less than those in Germany. When we train we shouldn't need to worry about where we are allowed to dig holes and what kind of trouble we will get into for chopping down a tree. Germany is pretty strict from what I understand. If we get a base in Poland we can shut down some bases in Germany. I also heard that the Army is aiming for more bases around the world but not keeping them fully manned at all times rather to have a training area and have troops rotate in for training and to have a forward area with supplies in a time of war.

Originally posted by Soldier
. When we train we shouldn't need to worry about where we are allowed to dig holes and what kind of trouble we will get into for chopping down a tree. .

If my country's Army where to come to your country and used it as a training ground, I'm sure you'd be first in the queue to stop me digging holes and pulling down trees without permission.

I also have to add that i think that Americas relationship with Poland is quite strong, i belive this might be because the Polish goverment is very Pro - American and the Americans need some kind of strong hold in europe, hence improving relationships with Poland.