Polish PM Tusk Wants Increased NATO Presence in Eastern Europe

NATO needs to have a larger presence in eastern Europe in light of the crisis in Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, quoted by The New York Times.

Tusk is in the Slovak capital Bratislava, to attend the session titled "Visegrad Up: Finding Common Grounds in Times of Crisis" at the 2014 GLOBSEC Security Forum. 

According to Tusk, the presence, meaning meaning infrastructure and specific units, was particularly necessary in countries who have a border with “an unstable region”, such as Bulgaria, the Baltic countries, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. 

"If there is no readiness for a greater NATO presence in bordering countries of the European Union, it will mean NATO solidarity is only declarative," Tusk said at a security conference in the Slovak capital.

The alliance's top military commander said earlier this month that NATO would have to consider permanently stationing troops in parts of eastern Europe as a result of the increased tension between Russia and Ukraine.