From DPA:   Poland's participation in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan is so expensive that it is hampering efforts to modernize the country's armed forces, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said on Wednesday, on his first visit to NATO headquarters.

From Anna Ringstrom, Reuters:  Poland needs to stay committed in Afghanistan until the job there is done, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Reuters on the eve of a meeting with the new Polish president.

From RIA Novosti:  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused western countries of using unfair political methods including deceit and breaking promises to obstruct the process of "resetting" relations between Russia and the West.

From David Frum, CNN:  America's place on the Polish mental map seems to shrink every year.

From the Economist:  Listen to critics of Barack Obama’s administration and the story of American policy in eastern Europe is of a grand betrayal, featuring the binning of a promised missile-defence system, the freezing of NATO enlargement and the headlong pursuit of better ties with Russia.

From Svetlana Jovanovska, waz.euobserver.com:  Martin Trenevski, the newly appointed Macedonian representative to Brussels' Nato headquarters, has given offence even before his term of office starts on 1 September.

From James Joyner, the New Atlanticist:  The Netherlands became the first NATO member to quit Afghanistan Sunday, when it withdrew its 1955 troops.

From Stephen Szabo, Europe's World:  America’s foreign policy leaders, both within the U.S. government and elsewhere, are losing patience with Europe.