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Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has called for the deployment of NATO nuclear weapons within Poland’s borders, according to a report by Polsatnews.pl.
Friday afternoon saw the conclusion of a European Council meeting on security and immigration. After the meeting, Morawiecki attended a press conference where he was asked about Poland's participation in the nuclear weapons proliferation programme.
According to Morawiecki, the move is necessary due to Russia's recent deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Morawiecki said Poland is asking the NATO bloc to take part in the Nuclear Sharing program, and reiterated his country's readiness “to act quickly in this regard.” The final decision on this issue, however, depends on Poland’s US and NATO partners, said the official.
He added that “we don't want to sit back while Putin escalates all sorts of threats.”
Nuclear Sharing is a program providing for the transfer of nuclear warheads to NATO member states that do not have their own nuclear weapons. Since November 2009, as part of Nuclear Sharing, US nuclear weapons have been stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
Alexander Lukashenko recently claimed that the majority of Russian nuclear weapons intended for transfer to Belarus are already present within the country. He refuted allegations, supposedly made by “Poland and others,” that the Wagner Group would be responsible for guarding the nuclear weapons. Lukashenko emphasized that the safety of the warheads is primarily his “personal responsibility.”
In a move aimed at bolstering their position with the Russian leadership and preventing a potential complete takeover of Belarus by Russia, Lukashenko welcomed the presence of the Wagner PMC and its co-founder and leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in Belarus, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.