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Poland’s leaders discuss NATO enlargement, Ukraine's prospects: official

20.05.2022 00:30
The Polish president late on Thursday held talks with top government ministers on key security issues, from the enlargement of NATO to Ukraine’s European aspirations, officials said.
Polands President Andrzej Duda (sixth from left) attends a meeting with top Cabinet ministers on support for war-torn Ukraine and NATO enlargement on Thursday, May 19, 2022.
Poland's President Andrzej Duda (sixth from left) attends a meeting with top Cabinet ministers on support for war-torn Ukraine and NATO enlargement on Thursday, May 19, 2022.KPRP/Grzegorz Jakubowski

Details of Andrzej Duda's meeting with the Cabinet were revealed by the president's top national security aide, Paweł Soloch, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

NATO enlargement

Soloch said Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and senior government ministers discussed “ways to support NATO’s admission of Finland and Sweden.”

The two Nordic countries earlier this week asked to join the Western military alliance in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Boosting NATO’s eastern flank

“Another topic was NATO’s continued adaptation to the threats posed by the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Soloch told reporters.

He added that this meant “boosting the alliance’s military presence on its eastern flank.”  

‘Ukraine should get EU candidate status’

Soloch said the talks also focused on ways to support war-torn Ukraine and its European aspirations, as well as on aid to war refugees and scenarios for the future.

He added: "We want Ukraine to be granted European Union candidate status and receive economic as well as systemic support from the bloc."

Thursday was day 85 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, polskieradio24.pl