President Duda in London: current situation forces us to join efforts in strengthening NATO

Poland's President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday (May 23) took part in London Defence Conference.

In his speech, the president stressed, among other things, that by attacking Ukraine, Russia had violated all international laws. He added that continuous expansion was Russia's top priority, which the Western countries should firmly stand against.

"The situation across the region forces us, like never before, to join efforts in strengthening the North Atlantic Alliance, which needs to deter the aggressor effectively. Of key importance in this respect will be the Vilnius Summit decisions," Duda said.

The Polish president also listed Poland's priorities ahead of said summit, which include: boosting the defence potential of the Eastern flank by increasing the number of NATO troops deployed there, and reforming NATO Response Force along with the Madrid Summit decisions, meaning the implementation of the New Force Model and scaling–up the High Readiness Forces from 40,000 to 300,000 troops.

Furthermore, Polish government will seek to establish a Multi–Corps Land Component Command in Poland based on the Operational Command and motivate all allies to increase their defence spending.

"And let me stress – by all Allies! We must bear in mind that NATO forces are not just the US troops. It is our joint potential contributed by each and every member of the Alliance," president Duda stressed.

"Let me recall that if we want Article 5 to provide iron–clad security guarantees, then the provisions of Article 3 have to be strictly followed. And Article 3 stipulates that everyone of us – each NATO member – has to individually maintain and develop their capacity to resist armed attack!" - he added.

"In order to effectively deter an aggressor, what we need is not only the effort of the Alliance as a whole, but also our own one."

WATCH THE FULL SPEECH BY PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA BELOW