President, MoD work together to ensure Poland meets challenges
President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday that his office and the Defence Ministry share a vision of how the Polish army's command structure should look in the future and this consensus will help the country in facing current challenges.
The head of state made the comment as he addressed the annual briefing of Defence Ministry officials and top military commanders. Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak also took part in the meeting.
President Duda said he was "pleased that we are working very well with Minister Mariusz Blaszczak." He also thanked the defence minister and his staff for "giving a totally new quality to this collaboration."
The president said that a special team comprised of his officials and Defence Ministry experts is working on the future form of the Polish army's command and control structure.
Both sides share "a common vision" of how this arrangement should look, the head of state declared.
In the president's view, this agreement will help Poland face up to present challenges, notably "the unpredictable policy of the Russian Federation."
Andrzej Duda said that Russia is demonstrating a willingness to use military force and break international law as it pursues its aims. This approach "is dangerous to us, to all of Russia's neighbours and to the whole international community," he added.
Against this backdrop, Poland will continue to contribute to the maintenance of order in Europe and globally, the president said. For this purpose, Warsaw can use its membership of NATO and the European Union, as well as its temporary position on the United Nations Security Council.
Since last year's defence-policy briefing, Poland has achieved numerous successes, President Duda noted. For example, US President Donald Trump visited Warsaw and gave assurances America would honour its NATO commitment to collective defence of its members. Meanwhile, Warsaw took steps to increase defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2030.
"A year from now, there will be even more successes, in terms of the armed forces and relations with allies," the head of state said.
Source: PAP
