Poland wants NATO nuclear weapons at home

Poland wants to take part in the Nuclear Sharing program and may receive nuclear weapons from the United States, although, as the Polish president stresses, this is far from being realised.

Vladimir Putin’s recent declarations regarding the use of nuclear weapons on the Ukrainians should they continue to succeed on the frontline have sparked a lively discussion in Poland about nuclear weapons.

“The problem, first of all, is that we don’t have nuclear weapons. There is no indication that we will have it in our possession in the near future. But there is always the potential possibility of participating in Nuclear Sharing. We have talked with American leaders about whether the United States is considering such a possibility. The topic is open,” President Andrzej Duda said in an interview with Gazeta Polska.

Poland is one of the countries that make up NATO’s eastern flank. It borders Russia, and relations between the two countries have always been severely strained.

Marco Rubio, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said earlier this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin could strike some Polish locations with weapons.

Rubio’s comments were swiftly defended by former Land Forces Commander of Ground Forces General Waldemar Skrzypczak.

“Despite being a senator, Mr Rubio probably does not have access to NATO intelligence data, and I doubt he knows Putin’s personal intentions,” Skrzypczak told Wirtualna Polska, referring to Rubio’s statement as “irresponsible” and “ridiculous.”

Poland has never possessed nuclear weapons, although during the Cold War, some 200 charges belonging to the Soviet Union were stored on its territory.

(Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl)