Poland could be left exposed to Russian attacks, a senior official has warned, after Warsaw said it would host NATO nuclear weapons on its territory to bolster the alliance's Eastern European strength against Moscow.
In April, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Warsaw was "ready" to host NATO nuclear weapons to strengthen the alliance's eastern flank. Russia slammed the comments as "very dangerous."
Andrzej Szejna, Poland's deputy minister of foreign affairs, told Polish media on Monday that Duda should "have consulted with the government first" and that comments about hosting nuclear weapons open Warsaw up to risking Russian missile strikes.
Should NATO allies move to put nuclear weapons on Polish territory, Warsaw "should say 'yes,' but such a situation has never happened before," Szejna told Polish national broadcaster Polskie Radio.
Duda said in late April that no decision had yet been made regarding NATO nuclear weapons on Polish soil. A spokesperson for the Polish Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that "these issues are a matter of continuous consultations between Allies, on the forum of NATO as well as bilaterally, in which Poland takes active part."
More than two years of war in Ukraine has spurred NATO countries in eastern Europe—close to Russian territory—to invest heavily in their military strength, although they do not possess nuclear weapons. Within the alliance, the U.S., the United Kingdom and France have nuclear weapons, but several European bases host U.S. tactical nuclear weapons.
Russia, which has the world's largest nuclear arsenal, said in June 2023 that it had started transferring tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, a key Russian ally that borders NATO countries Poland and Latvia.
Poland, with its proximity to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, had already exceeded NATO's target of defense spending, dedicating more than two percent of its GDP to the military by 2022. Warsaw has said it will spend four percent of its GDP on defense this year.
In June last year, then-Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki indicated Warsaw was interested in NATO's nuclear-sharing program.
Warsaw supports NATO's "actions and initiatives" designed to strengthen the alliance's nuclear deterrent, not least the "nuclear sharing" program, the Polish Defense Ministry told Newsweek in a statement on April 22. The program refers to leveraging nuclear weapons for the collective defense of all the alliance's members.
"In the context of a worsening security situation, especially threats posed by the Russian Federation, including in the nuclear sphere, NATO nuclear deterrence is an important factor in ensuring the security of Poland and the entire Alliance," the ministry added.
Polish minister Wojciech Kolarski said in late April that the Polish president had discussed nuclear sharing with the conservative Law and Justice party, with which Duda is allied. The party left the government late last year.
Duda said he has invited current Prime Minister Donald Tusk to discuss the possibility of Poland hosting NATO nuclear weapons.
"In the event US nuclear weapons appear on Polish soil, the relevant facilities will immediately be added to the list of legitimate targets to be hit in the scenario of a direct military confrontation with NATO," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said late last month.
Update 5/2/2024 at 12:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from the Polish Defense Ministry.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
