Mark Rutte praises Poland for significant contribution to NATO

Mark Rutte has been serving as NATO Secretary General since the beginning of October. Prior to his appointment, Jens Stoltenberg held the position for a decade, starting in 2014. Since taking office, Rutte has already visited several NATO capitals, including Rome, Berlin, Paris, Zagreb, and Tallinn. Last week, he also attended the European Political Community summit in Budapest.

During Wednesday's conference in Warsaw following his meeting with the NATO Secretary General, Donald Tusk addressed Poland’s growing role within the Alliance. "It may sound like a cliché, but I am glad that Poland — not only because of its geography, but because of the great effort in terms of military armament and defense spending — is becoming the foundation of NATO's policy," he said.

The prime minister stressed that NATO is a guarantee of security and that the world remains relatively safe as long as countries like the U.S., Canada, Europe, NATO, and others stay united.

Tusk also called for greater intensification of Poland's cooperation with NATO. He said: "It is not only about maintaining, but also about intensifying our cooperation with the NATO Secretary General. As you know, I don't need to convince anyone of this. We are living in times with very changing situations and moods."

Furthermore, he highlighted that he and Rutte shared identical views on global security challenges. "Personal relationships are important, but what is even more important is that we have — I believe Mark would agree — identical views on the situation in the world, in the region, and at this burning border.

In his remarks, Rutte praised Poland’s defense spending, noting that the country’s 4.7% of GDP allocation for defense far exceeds NATO’s minimum of 2%. "With this you are building one of the biggest armies in NATO."

The NATO chief acknowledged Poland's active presence in Latvia, Romania, Kosovo, and Iraq, as well as its hosting of a NATO battlegroup to strengthen the eastern flank of the Alliance. He also commended Poland for its substantial support for Ukraine, both in terms of military aid and hosting over a million Ukrainian refugees, providing them with social and educational assistance.

"Our continued, collective support remains critical. Now, throughout the coming winter, but also for the long term, if necessary," Rutte said. "We have to make that defense aid will keep flowing to Ukraine, and that we are able to get them from a position where they are losing their territory, that they are able to stabilize the front, and then to win back from the Russians what they have lost."

Rutte addressed the issue of North Korean troops in Russia, highlighting that North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia and are being paid in both money and missile technology, posing a threat to not only NATO but also to South Korea, Japan, and the U.S.

He also noted China's involvement in supporting Russia’s war effort, suggesting that this cooperation undermines international sanctions.

The Secretary General called for a strengthening of NATO's capabilities and the defense industry, stressing that these efforts need to be expedited. He pointed out that NATO allies must also share the financial burden of defense, cutting bureaucracy and implementing new solutions.

Rutte mentioned the 40 billion promised for military support and training in 2024, hoping the commitment will be honored.

After the meeting with Tusk, Rutte met with President Andrzej Duda at the Presidential Palace.

The United States opened a new air defence base in northern Poland on Wednesday, an event the European nation's president said showed the country was secure as a member of NATO even as Russia wages war in neighbouring Ukraine.

Situated in the town of Redzikowo near the Baltic coast, the base has been in the works since the 2000s.

At a time when Donald Trump's election victory has caused jitters among some NATO members, Warsaw says the continued work on the base by successive U.S. presidents shows Poland's military alliance with Washington remains solid whoever is in the White House.

"We can confidently say that the United States is indeed, even in the purely physical sense, a guarantor of the security of the Republic of Poland, as well as the entire North Atlantic Alliance, especially along its eastern flank, given the current Russian invasion of Ukraine" President Andrzej Duda said during the opening ceremony.

He said the permanent presence of U.S. troops at the base showed that Poland, a communist state until 1989, was "not in the Russian sphere of influence".

The Kremlin on Wednesday called the base a bid to contain Russia by moving American military infrastructure nearer its borders.

The opening comes amid a nervous reaction among some NATO members to the election of Trump, who has vowed not to defend countries that do not spend enough on defence.

However, Poland says it should have nothing to fear as it is the alliance's biggest spender on defence relative to the size of its economy, and conservative Duda has stressed his warm ties with Trump.

The U.S. base at Redzikowo is part of a broader NATO missile shield, dubbed "Aegis Ashore", which the alliance says can intercept short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Other key shield elements include a site in Romania, U.S. navy destroyers based in the Spanish port of Rota and an early-warning radar in Kurecik, Turkey.

Moscow had already labelled the base a threat as far back as 2007, when it was still being planned.

NATO says the shield is purely defensive.

Military sources told Reuters the system in Poland can now only be used against missiles fired from the Middle East and the radar would need a change in direction to intercept projectiles from Russia, a complex procedure entailing a change of policy.

Polish Defence Minister Władyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday the scope of the shield needed to be expanded, which Warsaw would discuss with NATO and the United States.