MICHAEL Fallon, the Defence Secretary, will this afternoon in Scotland announce that the UK will commit nearly 1000 personnel to Nato exercises in Poland
The announcement bolsters hopes in Warsaw of a more permanent alliance presence in its country.
Mr Fallon will stress that the move underlines the important partnership between the two countries and will make the announcement in Edinburgh after meeting Antoni Macierewicz, the Polish minister of national defence, to discuss the two countries’ defence and security relationship and how they could face shared challenges.
The Polish government wants a more permanent Nato presence in its country in light of what it regards as Russian aggression.
The strain on UK-Russian relations is likely to take more weight this week when the report into the death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinienko is published tomorrow. It could find that the Russian state was behind his death, the cause of which was poisoning by plutonium 210, a rare radioactive isotope only made at nuclear facilities controlled by Moscow.
The Guardian has reported that British diplomats have urged David Cameron not to launch economic sanctions, if the inquiry finds Mr Litvinienko was murdered by the Russian state, for fear it could set back the wider interests of UK-Russian relations, including the search for a resolution to the civil war in Syria.
After the meeting with his Polish counterpart, Mr Fallon will explain that Britain will commit a battlegroup of around 800 military personnel to Nato’s biennial Exercise Anakonda in summer and 150 personnel to elements of a Brigade HQ, Battlegroup HQ and a Company to Exercise Swift Response later this year.
The Secretary of State will also confirm the UK will commit a battlegroup of around 1000 personnel to the Polish-led Very High Readiness Joint Task Force in 2020.
“The long history between our countries is deeply rooted,” Mr Fallon will declare. “This troop commitment demonstrates the UK’s vital work with Nato allies, including Poland, to ensure our collective forces are primed and ready and sends a clear message to our allies that we are ready to respond to any threat.”
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