Biden assures Poland of his country’s commitment to defending “NATO” countries

US President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly pledged to defend “every inch” of the territory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, visited yesterday US soldiers stationed in Poland, close to the Ukrainian border.

After his plane landed in the city of Zychov, which is about 80 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, Biden began a two-day visit by meeting the 82nd Airborne Division soldiers in the US Army. This division was the last to leave Afghanistan last summer, and it is among the forces deployed in the eastern wing of NATO to reinforce the presence of US forces in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The “Supreme Commander” of the American armed forces that have strengthened their deployment in Eastern Europe, including a force of 10,500 soldiers deployed in Poland, joked about the soldiers who were cutting their hair, as quoted by the French press agency. Then, the American president sat among the soldiers in the dining hall and ate a piece of pizza. Biden thanked the soldiers repeatedly, shook hands with a smile and took selfies with them.

“You are in the middle of a battle between democracies and authoritarian regimes,” Biden said in a brief speech. “What you’re doing is very important, really important.” According to the White House, the US president seeks from his visit to confirm the US commitment to defending NATO countries, which Biden has repeatedly considered a “sacred” duty.

Biden held a meeting devoted to discussing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the region, along with his Polish counterpart Andrei Duda, who will participate. Duda was supposed to receive his American counterpart at the airport, but that did not happen due to problems with his plane.

As for today (Saturday), the US President is expected to hold meetings in Warsaw with Polish officials, as well as inspect a center to receive Ukrainian refugees. Biden will then conclude his visit, whose timing comes a month after the Russian war on Ukraine. And the US presidency announced that he would deliver an important speech at the end of his visit.

The visit to Poland comes the day after a busy day of summits in Brussels, which hosted meetings of NATO, the Group of Seven and the European Union, after which Biden said that NATO had become “more united than ever.”