“From July, Polish and German soldiers will be on duty together as part of the EU’s rapid reaction forces as a result of closer Polish-German cooperation’, the heads of the defence ministries of both countries announced on Monday.
“Poland and Germany are taking responsibility for rapid reaction forces in Europe. From July this year, our battle groups, 2,500 Polish soldiers, 2,500 German soldiers will be on standby for rapid response and deployment. They are a rapid deployment force fulfilling the tasks of the strategic compass of the European Union”, said Minister Kosiniak – Kamysz after a meeting with the head of the German defence ministry Boris Pistorius.
The head of the Polish ministry stressed that cooperation within the European Union and NATO is a foundation related to the security of Europe, a foundation of the democratic heritage, civilisational heritage, principles and values in which the life of the individual and the rule of law are the basis.
“It is a foundation that we will develop, we will strengthen. We talked about very specific issues of cooperation between our countries in the military dimension and in the political dimension”, noted Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz.
One of the subjects of the talks between the heads of the Polish and German defence ministries included issues of Polish-German cooperation in security and defence, assistance to struggling Ukraine and cooperation within NATO and the European Union. Topics also included issues relating to the initiative for EU countries to jointly purchase ammunition for Ukraine.
“On 26 March, we are activating, as Poland and Germany, a coalition of armoured capabilities in support of Ukraine. This is one of the most important coalitions that has been formed. We are as two countries the leaders of this project. Our other partners have already come forward: the UK, Sweden, Italy, who declare their willingness to participate in this coalition”, reported the head of the Ministry of Defence. He added that Poland will host a meeting of the heads of defence ministries of Poland, Germany, and France in May.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński