Poland expects increased NATO presence, military drills: president

WARSAW, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Poland's President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday that he hoped NATO presence and military drills with allies could increase over the years.

"I hope that, over the years, the presence of NATO in Poland will increase and also that military exercises of allied troops will often take place on the territory of our country," Duda said during a visit to NATO troops stationed in Orzysz, northeast Poland.

Together with Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak and Head of the National Security Bureau Pawel Soloch, the Polish president watched a presentation of military equipment and manoeuvres by multinational troops stationed in Orzysz as part of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence.

Duda then thanked the multinational group of soldiers from Poland, the U.S., the UK, Romania and Croatia for defending both Poland and the eastern flank of NATO.

The visit to Orzysz is part of a series of events marking the 20th anniversary of Poland's joining NATO, which Duda and Blaszczask kick-started on Monday.

Poland officially joined NATO in 1999.

In 2016, during a NATO summit in Warsaw, it was decided that NATO troops as well as command structures of both NATO and the U.S. army would be located in Poland.