Orlando Sentinel

As U.S. troops arrive, Poland says: ‘We waited for decades’

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WARSAW, Poland — Polish leaders welcomed U.S. troops to their country Saturday, with the defense minister expressing gratitude for their arrival and calling it the fulfillmen­t of a dream Poles have had for decades.

The ceremony in the western Polish town of Zagan comes more than 20 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland.

It marks a new historic moment — the first time Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATO’s eastern flank.

The move has infuriated Moscow.

“We have waited for you for a very long time,” Defense Minister Antoni Macierewic­z told the troops as snow fell. “We waited for decades, sometimes feeling we had been left alone, sometimes almost losing hope, sometimes feeling that we were the only one who protected civilizati­on from aggression that came from the east.”

The U.S. deployment includes an armored brigade of 3,500 American troops from Fort Carson, Colo.

It comes in reaction to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its backing of separatist insurgents in Ukraine’s east.

Those actions have frightened many in Poland, the Baltic states and other countries in Eastern Europe that were once under Moscow’s control.

The Polish government organized several other events across the country, including in downtown Warsaw, to welcome the Americans.

“This is an important day for Poland, for Europe, for our common defense,” Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said.

The troops are due to fan out across seven countries from Estonia to Bulgaria for exercises.

A headquarte­rs unit will be stationed in Germany.

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