Poland to become NATO Response Force Framework State
Poland will become part of the NATO Response Force within four years. The Polish Vice-Minister, Tomasz Szatkowski, reported that the Polish Ministry of Defense has already been preparing for this duty.
“Our contribution to the framework will consist of five battalions. As a framework state, we want to invite our partners from the Visegrad Group to join this effort. There has been a prior agreement that part of these forces will be under the flag of Visegrad," the Vice-Minister, Tomasz Szatkowski reported. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia belong to the Visegrad Four.
The decision to create the so-called NATO Spearhead Force as a part of the NATO Response Force (NRF) was taken after a NATO summit in September of 2014. Poland will be one of the seven framework states. France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal will also belong to the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force. Framework states must commit to participation for one year.
Poland will serve its year-long commitment in 2020. Starting in January, Poland has served on combat duty in the European Union within the Visegrad Group and provides nearly half of the force's structure and command.