President signs National Security Strategy - News - National Security Bureau

05.11.2014

President signs National Security Strategy

The National Security Strategy is a significant document outlining directions of activity which are important in the light of changes in security beyond Poland's eastern border, President Bronislaw Komorowski said Wednesday after signing the document.

Read the National Security Strategy in Polish

Read the National Security Strategy in English

 The president said that following the strategy's approval, further documents would be issued and decisions reached on the development of the armed forces, the defence system and the security system in a broad sense.

"Work continues because we are drawing conclusions from what has changed for the worse east of Poland, where an area has appeared not only of instability ... but one of lasting changes that worsen the state of security," President Komorowski said.

"This is an important document defining the changes and laying down directions of actions that are significant in the light of the situation we have found ourselves in as a nation," the president added.

Komorowski pointed out that the strategy included guidelines important not only for the armed forces but also for other elements that decide about Poland's security capabilities.

"That is why I am happy to see representatives of NGOs and local governments here. I am convinced that together we will make sure that this strategy is implemented as effectively as possible," Komorowski said.

The president added that modernisation of the Polish armed forces, which should accelerate, would strengthen Poland's defence and security system, which in turn would serve to increase the strength of NATO. "I hope that in this area, like in many others - including 2 percent of GDP going to defence - we will continue to be a good example for other NATO member states to follow," Komorowski remarked.

The ceremony was attended by deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, National Security Bureau (BBN) head Stanislaw Koziej and Polish Army generals.

Siemoniak commented that the strategy "is - inevitably - a strategy for a time of danger, but it also encompasses the entire defence effort of the past 25 years and plans future directions."

"I think it is a good strategy for building reliable security for Poland and building steadfast alliances," the defence minister also said. He later told reporters that the strategy was the direct effect of Poland's obligations within NATO.

"There are no official consultations in such cases, but (the strategy) is strongly related to what is happening in NATO ... This is a document 100-percent cohesive with what NATO wants over the next few years," Siemoniak explained.

"The crisis of security in Europe, the strategic, radical change that has occurred, has influenced the strategy's content," BBN head Koziej told reporters after the meeting. He also underlined that Russia had "rejected the existing post-cold war security order."

The strategy is a comprehensive outline of national security issues, listing optimal ways of utilising all available resources for security needs. It was adopted by the government on October 21. The document replaces the strategy from 2007.

Source: president.pl PAP