Nuclear bomb in Central Europe

This resulted in the emergence of two new great armies in Europe Russian invasion of Ukraine 2022. There is a Ukrainian army facing the most significant military offensive experienced in Europe since World War II. The second is the Polish army, which is preparing for Russia’s next attack. Ukrainians regret Returned in Moscow in the 90s Nuclear arsenal inherited from USSR, Now the Polish authorities are even “ready” to place nuclear weapons on their territory if NATO decides to strengthen its eastern flank. Moscow has warned it will take “measures” if that happens.

Cooperation in the field of nuclear weapons has been one of the issues discussed in the talks between Warsaw and Washington, as confirmed by Polish President Andrzej Duda. Publicly, Moscow views every strengthening of European defense as a threat. But it’s raining for Warsaw: Various senior officials in Vladimir Putin’s government have launched threats against its integrity as a state in recent months. “If our allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons on our territory as part of a nuclear exchange to strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank,” Duda said in an interview published by Polish media on Monday. We are ready for it.” , fact

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Although Moscow presents the Polish idea as nuclear growth In Europe, the truth is that, like Ukraine, Poland once had Russian nuclear weapons on its territory. During the Cold War, Soviet nuclear weapons were stored in Poland. In 1967 the Vistula program agreed to build storage facilities so that Soviet nuclear weapons could be available to the Polish Army in the event of war. This was in response to the deployment of nuclear weapons by the United States in Western Europe since the mid-1950s.

Now Warsaw is responding to Russian warmongering, which has moved from gestures to action in Ukraine, but Poles feel it is also aimed at them. “Russia is increasingly militarizing Königsberg (Kaliningrad). Recently, it has Belarus is taking its nuclear weapons“, condemned the Polish president. In the wake of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland has increased its military like no other state in Europe.

The Kremlin said on Monday that the Russian military would analyze any move by Poland to host US nuclear weapons. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, warned that “if these plans are implemented, all necessary measures will be taken to guarantee our security.” Russia has repeatedly warned since the start of the 2022 war growing nuclear threatsBut it has also made veiled nuclear threats toward the West, even possessing nuclear weapons in Belarus, which neighbors Poland and other NATO members such as Latvia and Lithuania.

breaking the nuclear taboo

Already in June 2023, the then Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, tabled Poland’s interest in hosting nuclear weapons within the framework of NATO’s nuclear exchange policy, citing not only the alleged deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in its Kaliningrad region but also the announcement of their deployment in Belarus. Shortly afterwards, the head of the Polish National Security Office, Jacek SivieraSaid that Poland was interested in certifying its F-35A Lightning II aircraft to deliver the B61 free-fall nuclear bomb, ahead of potential addition to NATO’s arsenal of dual-capable aircraft.

Poland suggested the possibility of hosting nuclear weapons in 2014. His Polish position seeks to break some taboos in Europe, even on paper. In 2023, the then Polish Foreign Minister, Zbigniew RauSaid the government supports abolishing the NATO-Russia Founding Act, a 1997 document that stated NATO had “no intention, no plan and no reason” to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of new members. Was, a category which has also included Poland since its accession. alliance in 1999.

Duda himself has now confirmed that nuclear deployment in Poland has been a topic of conversation between Poland and the United States “for some time”. The Polish president, who recently traveled to New York and met with Republican candidate Donald Trump, told the magazine, “I have already spoken about it several times and when they asked me about it, I announced That we are willing.”

While waiting to see how much support he has from outside, President Duda is sure to have support from within. An October 2022 poll indicated that more than half of the Polish population would support the deployment of nuclear weapons in their country. According to a report by The International Institute for Strategic Studies, only a quarter of respondents expressed similar support in 2016.

are on the European continent three nuclear powerss: United Kingdom, France and Russia. Currently, five European countries are subject to the NATO nuclear sharing agreement: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Together they host approximately 100 US nuclear weapons deployed on their territory and in the event of war in which nuclear weapons are deemed necessary, these would be nuclear weapons. Launched by NATO aircraft Run by the host states, which have been training for this purpose for years.