On Tuesday, 4 October, the two-day conference Warsaw Security Forum, organised by the Kazimierz Pulaski Foundation, began. Since 2014, this annual event has been bringing together politicians and experts in the field of broadly understood security.

This year, in addition to security issues, one of the main topics of the event are aspects of energy and climate security as well as defence and the resilience of democratic systems.

The forum began with an expert panel on defence, which was opened by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak. He noted that the meeting “is an opportunity to hold an effective discussion how to effectively counter Russia”.

From the very beginning of the war, the Belarusian regime supported Russian aggression. Therefore, both Russia and Belarus should meet an adequate, equal response’, said Deputy Prime Minister Blaszczak and recalled that “no country is able to counter the entire spectrum of threats and challenges alone. Only together will we counter Russian efforts to tear down the prevailing order”.

Speakers on the defence panel will include the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army, General Rajmund Andrzejczak, General David Petraeus, former CIA director, and NATO commander from 2013 to 2016 Philip M. Breedlove. The discussion is expected to focus on the mechanisms of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Poland’s role in Europe’s defence system and the future of military technology.

Further events at the Warsaw Security Forum will also be attended by Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, Germany’s Foreign Ministry chief Annalena Baerbock and Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanouska.

Adrian Andrzejewski