The Baltic is crucial for the safety of the EU and NATO," said Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish at the Central and east European safety Forum at the University of Warsaw. The head of the MON informed that, at the initiative of Poland, the NATO states in the sea area signed the "Baltic Declaration" to jointly build the possible of deterrence and defence.
– There is no safety of Central and east Europe without Poland – said Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz during the beginning of the global Forum for safety of Central and east Europe. The debate entitled “Together for a Safe Europe” brought together over 500 experts at the University of Warsaw in the field of geopolitics, economy or cybersecurity from Europe and the USA, as well as representatives of governments, armies, global organisations and the planet of science.
As Deputy Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz pointed out, the forum takes place in preparation for the NATO summit in The Hague. “We will talk about expanding defence spending to 5 percent of GDP there,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz. He added that in a situation where NATO as the biggest threat indicates the actions of Russia, Poland has a large function to play. "It should make another countries aware of the scale of threats, be the leader of Central and east Europe and impose on NATO and EU allies the pace of safety change," said the Minister of Defence. And he added: – We managed to do it during Polish Presidency of the EU Council, for the first time in past the Union will spend funds on arms, our success was to negociate package of investments in the arms industry and the anticipation of buying equipment by national armies – he mentioned. He besides stressed that Poland must connect Europe with the US and should be the military and economical link between Europe and Ukraine.
In his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister besides addressed the safety issues of the Baltic Sea. As he said, in order to defend the military, Natov was created Baltic worth mission to defend transport routes and critical infrastructure. In Poland, further elements of the Baltic-related programme were adopted, including the Polish safety Pact – Central Pomerania and a fresh multi-annual investment project, i.e. the Green Industrial territory “Kashubia”. According to the announcement of the head of the Ministry of Defence, it is simply a program of strategical importance for Pomerania and the full of Poland combining the activities of industry, energy and defence. Thanks to it, investments worth about PLN 250 billion are to be created in the region.
– The Baltic is crucial for the safety of the countries above it, but besides for the EU and NATO as a whole," stressed the Deputy Prime Minister. He informed that respective days ago in Brussels, during a gathering of NATO defence ministers, the alleged "Baltic Declaration" was signed. The subject was developed by the Minister during a press conference. As Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz pointed out, the "Baltic Declaration", whose originator was the Polish Ministry of Defence, signed outside Poland: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “The paper is the basis for coordination of actions and for building the possible for deterrence and defence by the Baltic states,” said the head of the MON. As he added, the aim is to: jointly respond to acts of diversion and sabotage and to combat them, and to exchange information and increase the mobility and operation of the Signatory Armed Forces.
Paweł Zalewski, Deputy Minister of Defence, added that the declaration last week was 1 of the subjects of the gathering of NATO's operational forces commanders, which are located on the Baltic. Its assumptions were besides discussed by Deputy Minister of Defence and abroad Affairs of Poland and Sweden. “We talked about how to make initiatives for the Baltic Sea to be safer, especially in terms of the operation of the shadow fleet (units that deal with oil smuggling and circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia – ed.)”, said Zalewski.
The Deputy Chief of the MON besides reported that from the Ministry of Defence to the Council of Ministers a draft of amendments to respective laws under the name “Safe Baltic”. “It will make it easier for us to operate in the Baltic and to complete political declarations and arrangements,” said Paweł Zalewski. The amendment is intended to allow, among others, the usage of naval vessels for tasks which present carry out Border defender ships in Polish territorial waters and in the exclusive economical zone. “The MW ships will be able to participate in patrolling and conducting operations against ships that violate the law,” explained the Deputy Minister. And the commander of the fire group will gain greater autonomy by changing the law, and in the event of the failure of contact with the Operations Command of the RSZ, he will be able to decide to shoot down a abroad rocket located on Polish territory. Now, as the Deputy Minister said, that decision can only be taken by the operational commander or by the individual designated by him. “These changes are intended to enable us to operate under Operation “Baltic Worth” and another operations in the future”, Zalewski concluded.
During the beginning of the Central and east European safety Forum, the function of discipline in building safety was besides discussed. Krzysztof Paszyk, Minister of improvement and Technology, emphasized that national safety is born not only on the battlefield, but besides in laboratories, universities and production halls. In turn Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, Rector of the University of Warsaw, declared that both the University of Warsaw and another Polish universities are able to offer much for cooperation in security, defence and improvement of science, including artificial intelligence, drones and another equipment for the Polish army.
During the two-day gathering there will be almost 50 discussion panels, plenary sessions and talks focusing on military security, energy, economical and cybersecurity, as well as social resilience. The main topics are the analysis of the impact of conflicts on social and civilian security, innovation in cybersecurity, logistics and defence, and the challenge to regional stableness in the context of global change.
The Forum was organized by the Foundation Institute of east Studies in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence and the University of Warsaw. The honorary patronage was taken by Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Piotr Zgorzelski, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm.
