“We expect new security plans for the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance. We would like NATO’s response to a potential onslaught to be faster”, said Polish President Andrzej Duda at a press conference at NATO Headquarters, after a meeting with North Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
According to the President, Poland is counting on an increase in the number of NATO troops envisaged as a rapid reaction force and the strengthening of infrastructure so that the eastern flank of NATO has as many arms depots as possible at the disposal of the Alliance’s forces in the event of a possible invasion.
The meeting with the NATO Secretary General is the first element of President Duda’s diplomatic offensive, which is related to the NATO summit in Vilnius scheduled for this July.
Poland expects an acceleration of the implementation of commitments from the previous NATO summit in Madrid, including above all the strengthening of the Allied presence on the territory of NATO’s eastern flank, the allocation of rapid reaction forces that would be urgently redeployed to places of threat, and progress in the accession process of Sweden and Finland.
On Thursday, 16 February, the Polish President will be in London, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and on Friday, the Polish head of state will meet with the British King, Charles III.
Also on Friday, the Polish leader will attend the 59th Munich Security Conference. In Munich, as part of the Weimar Triangle, Andrzej Duda will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Finally, US President Joe Biden will be in Warsaw on 20-22 February to attend, among other events, the NATO Eastern Flank B9 Summit. According to Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, the issues of aid to Ukraine and the reconfiguration of NATO’s eastern flank will be the subject of talks with the American leader. “We are expecting a permanent presence of troops from our allies, including the US, in Poland”, Rau added.
Adrian Andrzejewski