In a small Polish village near a Russian exclave, US-led NATO battle group is ready ‘in case anything happens’
By IMMANUEL JOHNSON | STARS AND STRIPES Published: February 15, 2020
BEMOWO PISKIE, Poland — When American troops first deployed to northeast Poland in 2017 to lead a NATO enhanced Forward Presence battle group, the population of the village of Bemowo Piskie grew by a third overnight.
Nearly three years later, locals have grown used to the military presence and the occasional columns of tanks that pass through the village. Some say having the Americans in the village, which lies just south of the strategic Suwalki Corridor — a border area between Poland and Lithuania that is sandwiched between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad — makes them feel safer. Others just like having them in town.
“American soldiers in Bemowo Piskie enjoy being here and we like having them,†said Kate, a villager who didn’t want to give her last name.
https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/in-a-small-polish-village-near-a-russian-exclave-us-led-nato-battle-group-is-ready-in-case-anything-happens-1.618860
