Polish army returns to the east says president

The Polish Army is returning to eastern Poland in renewed strength after spending years deployed in the west of the country, President Andrzej Duda has said.

The president was taking part in ceremonies in Wolka Konopna, near Siedlce in eastern Poland, to mark the end of the Dragon-21 exercises, and the certification of the 18th Mechanised Division.

Duda said that Polish Army had been "wound up or simply moved to places further west," but in the past few years that process had been stopped.

"When I took over supreme command of the armed forces, we started the process of returning the Polish Army to these lands," he said.

The president highlighted that in strategic and tactical matters, a feeling of security cannot be overlooked. "And people with all certainty feel safe when soldiers are in place and are serving," he said.

Duda added that he was very pleased with the decision of the defence minister to deploy the 18th Mechanised Division, the Polish Army’s youngest division, in the eastern part of the country.