Mattis Meets with Polish Defense Minister at Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2017 — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz today at the Pentagon, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson said in a readout of the meeting.

Dana W. White said that, during the meeting, Mattis highlighted NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence, or eFP, in which the U.S. and Poland are partnered as framework and host nations respectively, demonstrating the nation’s collective will to deter regional aggression.

The defense secretary thanked Macierewicz for hosting numerous U.S. forces, to include portions of an armored brigade combat team as well as the U.S. eFP battlegroup, she said, and also for Poland's continuing contributions to the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Mattis emphasized the United States' steadfast commitment to the NATO alliance and noted that Poland sets the example by meeting the Wales Summit defense spending pledge and investing in its modernization, White said.

“Both leaders stressed the importance of standing shoulder-to-shoulder to keep Europe whole and free,” she said.