The United States is deploying troops to Poland, the Baltic states and Romania next month as part of raising the security of the region, Polish and U.S. defense officials said Wednesday, cited by AP.

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz made the announcement following talks with the commander of U.S. land troops in Europe, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, in Zagan, western Poland. An Armored Brigade Combat Team from Fort Carson, Colorado will be deployed there early next month, while another U.S. force, a battalion, will be deployed April 1 to Orzysz, in the northeast.

Macierewicz said he was "very happy that a decision has been taken by the U.S. side for an earlier deployment." bla

He did not say if the accelerated timetable was due to the 20 January inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. Trump has suggested he would like Europe to rely less on the US for its defense, according to The Guardian. 

But the U.S. Army told The Associated Press that the deployment was not accelerated and is taking place as had always been scheduled. 

Hodges said the troops will arrive in the German port of Bremerhaven on January 6, 2017 and will be immediately deployed to Poland, the Baltic states and Romania. Their transfer will be timed and treated as a test of "how fast the force can move from port to field," he added.

"I'm confident in the very powerful signal, the message it will send (that) the United States, along with the rest of NATO, is committed to deterrence," pointed out Ben Hodges.