President Barack Obama called on Congress on Tuesday to back a US $1 billion effort to boost the US military presence across Europe, as he sought to ease anxiety among NATO allies who are wary of Russia’s threatening moves in Ukraine.
Obama was announcing the initiative during a visit to Warsaw, Poland, his first stop on a three-country swing through Europe. The White House said the funding would be used to increase military exercises and training missions, as well as rotations of air and ground forces, on the continent. Officials said Obama was also seeking to ramp up US Navy participation in NATO deployments in the Black and Baltic Seas, plus working to boost the military capacity of non-NATO countries that sit on Russia’s border, including Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
Minutes after landing in Poland, Obama declared that European security was the “cornerstone of our own security and it is sacrosanct.” “It is a commitment that is particularly important at this time,” Obama said, standing in front of American and Polish F-16 fighter jets.