"This alliance is no longer an exotic one"

- What does the Ministry of National Defence expect from President Donald Trump’s visit to Warsaw?

Minister Szatkowski: We expect that political position of Poland as an ally of the United States will be adequate to the real community of interests, both in the military domain and in the field of energy security. These two issues should be convergent. This alliance is no longer an exotic one and its importance is worth emphasizing from a political perspective. For us, President Trump’s visit is a great opportunity to tighten our common interests.

- The Americans have recently intensified their presence in Poland, Central Europe and the Baltic States. Can this increased presence of the United States in our region be linked to heightened activity of Russia?

- The USA and Poland are in favor of reinforcing NATO’s Eastern Flank. Our country attaches great importance to security in that part of Europe, and the Polish Army is the most advanced partner of the US Armed Forces on the Alliance’s Eastern Flank. On the one hand we hear that Poles are good training partners during common military manoeuvres, and on the other - this solves problems of political nature.

Since the Eastern Flank has become more important after Putin’s aggression on Ukraine, and Poland is naturally the largest entity here, then the USA can treat us as its partner. This is particularly significant because we have seen increasingly aggressive politics on the part of Russia since Vladimir Putin came into power in 2000. This has continued for a number of years and one cannot turn a blind eye to it. Russia has become dangerous and the Washington is aware of that fact.

- Does the US involvement in Poland and in other countries of NATO’s Eastern Flank mean that we can feel safe?

Minister Szatkowski: There is quite a lot we have to catch up with as regards development of the Polish Armed Forces, and reverse wrong and harmful decisions, which were taken in the recent years. Such issues include a widely known question of a low level of personnel reserves (which was related to a thoughtless army ‘professionalization’ project) and, for instance, the liquidation of the First Warsaw Mechanized Division, a division deployed in the East of Poland. We have initiated this reconstruction program. It will take a few years. But, at the same time, we need actions that strengthen security right now. Last year we achieved a breakthrough, namely NATO’s historic decisions on the permanent presence of the Alliance’s forces in connection with protection of the Eastern Flank.

It is not excessively great presence from a military point of view, but sufficient to deter a potential aggressor. Therefore, Russians would have to take into consideration that such war automatically becomes an international war. Thus our security increases, because a potential conflict gains an international and allied dimension. In addition to the NATO decision, there was also an American decision on a US military brigade being stationed in our country. And there are more elements on top of that. There is an issue of the Combat Aviation Brigade of the American Army Land Troops, which is based in Powidz.

Also, there is an issue of moving the Command of the Fourth Infantry Division to Poznan. As you can see, we are seeking various possibilities in our talks with Americans, so that the nature of their presence is maximally strategic and long-term. We have also devised a strategy related to an increase of Poland’s defense capabilities and defensive response in the neighborhood. This relates to raising the number of military forces and to the new qualitative elements, such as higher fire power, greater anti-tank capability, and restoring what was lost in the past years.

Źródło: tvn24.pl/tłumaczenie Intertext.com.pl