The command of NATO's communications battalion will have its headquarters in Bydgoszcz, central Poland, Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said at a press conference in Brussels on Friday.

The decision was formally confirmed by the latest meeting of NATO defense ministers, he announced.

"NATO has decided to form a new unit, the communications regiment. Under this decision the command of one of three battalions making up the regiment will have its headquarters in Bydgoszcz," the minister explained.

"This decision, combined with Thursday's decision to allocate fresh general's posts to Polish officers, including the post of deputy commander at the strategic command of transformation headquartered in Norfolk, points to Poland's growing importance in NATO," Klich said. "It is the result of our participation in NATO's foreign missions."

The Bydgoszcz headquarters will be manned with some 200 NATO officers, Klich said. "My plans provide for making Bydgoszcz the chief NATO outpost in Poland," he added.

The city, for many years the seat of one of Poland's three military districts, already hosts the NATO Joint Force Training Center set up in 2004. The communications battalion command will be the second NATO unit stationed in Bydgoszcz and in Poland.

Klich emphasized the importance of this decision for Poland, a country located at the perimeter of the Alliance. "The more allied institutions are in Poland the greater our sense of security," Klich noted. He added that NATO was investing in Poland in the air and naval base infrastructure. 　

Source:Xinhua