World
Biden meets U.S. troops reinforcing NATO east flank
President Joe Biden met with U.S. Army troops stationed in Poland on Friday (March 25) as part of his two-day visit to the country.
The president greeted members of the elite 82nd Airborne Division who have been deployed to Poland as part of efforts to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank.
Biden stopped by the base’s mess, where he chatted, took selfies and shared White House-provided pizza with servicemen and servicewomen. “Thank you very much for all you do,” he said, describing them as the “finest fighting force in the history of the world”.
Shaking hands with soldiers in the base barbershop, the commander-in-chief asked their names and cracked jokes. “You must be here for a second time,” Biden joked to a soldier with a crew cut.
The 82nd is one of the U.S. Army’s high readiness units, capable of deploying anywhere in the world with as little as 18 hours notice. 3,000 of the division’s paratroopers were moved to Poland in February as tensions built up ahead of the outbreak of fighting in neighbouring Ukraine.