NATO should strengthen presence in flank countries - News - National Security Bureau

25.05.2016

NATO should strengthen presence in flank countries

It is necessary to strengthen the presence of NATO forces and infrastructure in countries forming the alliance's flank, including Poland, President Andrzej Duda said in Norway on Wednesday.

"We talked about all that is very important today: about the security situation in our part of Europe and in the world", the Polish president said after meeting with Norway's King Harald V, Defence Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide and head of the Norwegian Joint Command Rune Jakobsen at the Reitan military base.
 
President Duda added that the Norwegians had indicated very clearly that any threat to Central and Eastern Europe was also a threat to Norway, to the northern part of Europe, and that these elements should be considered together.
 
Poland and Norway are in full agreement on security issues and further NATO actions, according to Duda. "NATO should develop its presence, strengthen its presence especially in a situation when Russia is obviously increasing its 'anti-access' capabilities blocking the possibility of providing assistance in case of aggression", the Polish president said.
 
He added that it was necessary for NATO forces and infrastructure to be present in countries forming the alliance's flank: Poland, the Baltic countries and Norway.
 
"This is what we discussed: how to ensure security and what our tasks are as flank countries, and at the same time what NATO's tasks are towards us. We agree that the alliance's presence should be strengthened in a way that would make Russia's anti-access measures ineffective if anything happens", Duda also said.

 

Source: president.pl; PAP