Collective security in Polish presidential aide's US talks - News - National Security Bureau

27.04.2017

Collective security in Polish presidential aide's US talks

Collective security was in the focus of talks held by Polish President's Office head Krzysztof Szczerski and National Security Bureau (BBN) head Pawel Soloch in the Pentagon and with US President's national security adviser Gen. Herbert R. McMaster.

Minister Szczerski came to Washington from Mexico where he had accompanied President Andrzej Duda during his official visit to that country.

After the meeting, Minister Szczerski stressed that opinions of the two sides grew much closer as far as the most important issues for Poland were concerned, and added he had in mind the future of NATO and the eastern policy as well as Poland's evaluation of security and threats to security.

"We can see a positive evolution, we share the same opinion on fundamental questions since earlier everybody was afraid of a big change", the minister went on. He also said that the forthcoming NATO summit in Brussels in late May was another subject of talks.

The BBN head confirmed that "all meetings in Washington showed that the US were not giving up (...) the implementation of decisions taken during the Warsaw NATO summit and bilateral agreements".

Minister Soloch announced that he was another Polish official to confirm Poland's readiness to increase its engagement in the struggle against the so called Islamic State and terrorism.

General McMaster, who met with the Polish officials directly after a debate on North Korea at the White House, was deeply interested in their opinions regarding Russia, Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Minister Szczerski said that all his interlocutors "displayed great interest" in the Three Seas project proposed by Poland and Croatia.

In February in Washington, Szczerski presented President Trump with President Andrzej Duda's and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic's joint invitation to visit Poland. The leaders of Poland and Croatia would like President Trump to come to Poland during a Three Sea Initiative Forum in Wroclaw (southwestern Poland) in July.

This is a joint initiative by the Presidents of Poland and Croatia consisting in the enhancement of the Central and Eastern European countries' cooperation in the areas of energy, transport, digitisation and economy.

A Three Seas project encompassing countries on the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas is aimed at bringing these countries closer together.

Referring to the invitation to President Trump during a meeting with Polish journalists in Washington, Minister Szczerski declared "that there was willingness of the two sides to meet".

Referring to a one-off LNG delivery contract signed by Poland and the US in Washington, Minister Szczerski stressed "it was the first such a deal in history".

The first ship with US LNG will arrive at the Lech Kaczynski LNG terminal in Swinoujscie (northern Poland) in June.

While in Washington, Ministers Szczerski and Soloch are also planned to meet with acting deputy Secretary of State Thomas Shannon and with experts from leading Washington think-tanks.

On their way home, Ministers Szczerski and Soloch will pay a visit to New York to hold a series of meetings as part of a campaign promoting Poland's candidacy for a UN Security Council non-permanent member.

Source: PAP