Soon Polish commandos against pirates?
(B2) Could Polish special commandos soon join the European operation EuNavfor? The "aquatic" unit of the famous GROM (the mobile operational reaction group) - which is to the Poles what the GIGN is to the French - could join the European forces of EuNavfor in the fight against pirates later this year. 'year.
The information, revealed by our colleague Republic, is not confirmed by the Ministry of Defence. At least not yet. For the commando to be operational, the formal agreement of the government and the president is still required. The plan to send Polish soldiers to Somalia - which was to be presented by Defense Minister Bogdan Klich - was postponed during the last Council of Ministers at the end of 2008. But President Lech Kaczy?ski (whose daily newspaper is close) seems ready to sign such a request to participate. Even on the side of the GROM, which has a solid tradition of secrecy, we seem to confirm that we are preparing for the eventuality of an intervention. It was the seizure of the Sirius Star by the pirates (with the Ukrainian tanks on board) that would have made the Poles feel the need to intervene (and no doubt the intense international mobilization, particularly Russian). Note that the Swiss were also planning to send commandos (without a ship).
The GROM - elite unit of the Polish army
Created in 1990 - following terrorist threats perceived after the aid that Poland had provided for the expatriation (alya) of Jews from the USSR to Israel -, the Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno - Manewrowego (GROM) - is an intervention corps, multi-function (protection of personalities, hostage-taking, special interventions, exfiltrations, arrests...) and all terrain (air land sea).
Trained at the best schools special forces, by the German GRG9, the British SAS and the American Delta force, the GROM carries on the tradition of the gray berets, the 1st World War II Parachute Autonomous Brigade (SBS) and ununiformed commandos parachuted into Poland to help the AK, the National Liberation Army.
Dependent on the Ministry of the Interior, at the beginning, the GROM passed in 1999 under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. His men intervened in Haiti alongside the American forces ("Operation Uphold Democracy" in 1994), in Bosnia (with the arrest of the Serb Slavko Dokmanovic involved in war crimes in Vukovar, see photo), in Kosovo, in Kuwait (see photo) and in Iraq (for the capture of the port of Oum Kasr in particular) and in Afghanistan (operation "Enduring freedom").
(NGV)
