President wants NATO countries to spend more on defence
President Andrzej Duda has said he thinks all NATO countries should spend three percent of their GDP on defence.
Speaking at the opening of a National Security Council on Monday, ahead of his joint visit with Prime Minister Donald Tusk to the US on Tuesday, Andrzej Duda said:
„During our visit to the White House I want to propose that the member states of Nato decide together that one of the conditions of the Alliance would be to spend not only 2, but 3 percent of each country’s GDP on defence.”
He added that he was planning to talk about this proposal to all of Poland’s allies, including Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, and highlighted the importance of the Alliance staying resilient and ready.
He said: „It has to be efficient, united. It must also fulfil its commitments, which were agreed upon at successive summits.
„If we claim we strengthen our defences, so that no one dares to attack NATO, then we must add one thing, no one will dare to attack countries who are able to defend themselves, who are ready and who will rise to the defence of their borders.”
He went on to say that Poland is today becoming such a country „thanks to the execution of this most important task at hand” by those in power. According to him, this goal was being realised by the country’s previous government and is continued by the current one as well.
President has said at the opening of the National Security Council that Poland has always been a loyal member of NATO. He added that Polish soldiers had fought alongside forces from the US Army and alliance armies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations „wherever it was necessary to defend the free world.”
He continued: „Today, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies in support of Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. But we also act responsibly on our own.”
Andrzej Duda went on to say that Poland was currently spending more than 4 percent of its GDP on defence, modernising and developing its army, and acquiring cutting–edge equipment in order to have the best possible potential to protect itself.
The President also thanked everyone who helped Poland join NATO 25 years ago.
Poland has begun work on a new National Security Strategy, Andrzej Duda has said.
President added that Wladyslaw Kosiniak–Kamysz, the defence minister, has said he was willing to prepare the strategy. The previous security strategy was adopted in 2020, the president said, but the outbreak of Russian–Ukrainian conflict in 2022 „has made a huge difference.”
Andrzej Duda said he would like it to be implemented before the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (PAP)