MAY 13, 2026 6:51 PM CET
BY
HANNE COKELAEREMost Europeans are overwhelmingly opposed to having a U.S. military base in their country, but Poland is a clear outlier with a majority favoring a larger American presence, according to new polling.
That matters following Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw at least 5,000 U.S. soldiers from Germany in response to Berlin’s criticism over the war on Iran. Governments in Poland, the Baltic countries and Romania are all
angling to see if some U.S. troops could be redeployed to their territory.
But in many countries, public support for the idea is mixed — except for Poland.
https://www.politico.eu/article/poll...ilitary-bases/
Almost 51 percent of Polish respondents favored having a U.S. military base in the country while just 23 percent were opposed, according to a survey for the annual
Democracy Perception Index that was carried out in March and April across 98 countries, including 17 in the EU.
The result sets Poland apart from other European countries covered in the survey, most of which reported significant opposition to U.S. military bases on their turf. It also offers public support for Polish President Karol Nawrocki's
effort to encourage the Trump administration to redeploy some troops to Poland.
When
asked earlier this week about relocating some U.S. forces to Poland, Trump replied that "it's possible," stressing his very good relations with Nawrocki, whom he called, “a great fighter, a terrific guy.”
Romania was the only other country in Europe where a slim plurality of respondents favored American bases, but it's far more divided on the topic than Poland.
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