Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki has called Polish soldiers “heroes” who deserve “respect and words of gratitude for their service”, after Donald Trump downplayed the role of NATO allies in Afghanistan, where Polish troops fought alongside U.S. forces.
In an interview with U.S. broadcaster Fox News that triggered a wave of criticism across Europe, Trump questioned NATO’s reliability and belittled the role of allied forces in U.S.-led military operations.
“I’ve always said, will they [NATO allies] be there if we ever needed them? And that’s really the ultimate test. And I’m not sure of that,” he said.
“We’ve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, and they did – they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added.
His comments prompted anger across Europe, including in Poland, with officials moving to defend the record of allied contributions to U.S.-led military missions and describing his words as disrespectful to the memory of those who died in the operations.
Nearly 33,000 Polish soldiers and defense ministry personnel took part in the mission in Afghanistan over almost two decades. Forty-three Polish soldiers were killed, along with one civilian employee who worked as a paramedic.
Poland’s top leadership responded to Trump’s remarks on Friday.
‘They will remain in our memory’
Nawrocki, a nationalist who is politically aligned with the U.S. president, wrote on X: “There is no doubt that Polish soldiers are heroes. They deserve respect and words of gratitude for their service.
“Forty-four brave Poles fell in Afghanistan: 43 soldiers and one civilian. They will remain in our memory forever!”
Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote on X: “No one has the right to mock the service of our soldiers.”
Sikorski added that the southern Ghazni province, where the Polish contingent was deployed, was a frontline area and among the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk also addressed the issue, recalling a farewell ceremony for fallen Polish soldiers he attended in Ghazni in 2011.
“The American officers who accompanied me at the time said that America would never forget Polish heroes. Perhaps they should remind President Trump of that,” Tusk wrote on X.
‘Shoulder to shoulder with allies’
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the “Polish Armed Forces had stood shoulder to shoulder with allies, including during missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
He said that the “tragic moments, when our soldiers died, showed that in defense of international security, and Poland’s security, we are ready to pay the highest price,” adding that the sacrifice of Polish soldiers “will never be forgotten and must not be diminished.”
Roman Polko, a former Polish special forces commander who served in NATO missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, called for an apology from Trump, saying the U.S. president had “crossed a red line” and insulted the memory of soldiers who died fighting alongside American forces.
‘Insulting and appalling’
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described Trump’s comments as “insulting and frankly appalling,” adding: “I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt for the loved ones of those who were killed or injured.”
When asked whether he would demand an apology from the U.S. president, Starmer told reporters on Friday: “If I had misspoken in that way or said those words, I would certainly apologize.”
Under NATO’s founding treaty, members are bound by a collective defense clause, Article 5, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all. The clause has been invoked only once, following the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
In the years that followed, NATO allies of the U.S. deployed troops to long-term missions in Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the U.S.-led war on terror.
Polish troops also took part in the U.S.-led operation in Iraq, with more than 15,000 soldiers serving there between 2003 and 2008. Twenty-two were killed during the mission.
Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly criticized European allies, accusing them of failing to contribute sufficiently to NATO’s collective defense.
