Polish president to focus on security, support for Ukraine, relations with US: aide

The Polish president’s policy priorities this year and going forward are national security, support for war-torn Ukraine, and bilateral relations with the United States and other key partners, a senior aide has said.

Marcin Przydacz.

PAP/Rafał Guz

Marcin Przydacz outlined President Andrzej Duda’s priorities in an interview with state news agency PAP on Friday. 

A day earlier, Przydacz was appointed head of Duda's International Policy Bureau, replacing Jakub Kumoch. 

Dziś z rąk Prezydenta RP @AndrzejDuda odebrałem nominację na Sekretarza Stanu - Szefa Biura Polityki Zagranicznej @prezydentpl.
To dla mnie wielki zaszczyt i honor służyć Polsce u boku Prezydenta RP. pic.twitter.com/YE6O93cS99

— Marcin Przydacz (@marcin_przydacz) January 12, 2023

National security

Przydacz told the PAP news agency that "in the immediate future," the Bureau would focus on "issues of national security."  

He said: “For President Duda, the security of Poland, Polish people, the entire eastern flank of NATO, is absolutely of key importance. The threats are well known: it’s the policy of Russia, instability in the region and potentially further negative effects of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”

Przydacz: wśród priorytetów prezydenta kwestie bezpieczeństwa, wsparcie Ukrainy i rozwój stosunków dwustronnych https://t.co/Fb247Cb69m. z USA#PAPinformacje https://t.co/v6GG7icKyM

— PAP (@PAPinformacje) January 13, 2023

Support for Ukraine

Przydacz added: “We’ll be seeking to further strengthen the eastern flank of NATO, and to support Ukraine in its fight for sovereignty and independence, because it’s also a fight for the stability of the whole region. We’ll also be seeking to keep the issue of Russian aggression as high as possible on the international agenda.”

He said Duda would “make every effort to support and deepen the consolidation of the free world, because without the support of the West, it would be much more difficult for Ukraine to stand up to Russia.”

Polish-US relations

According to Przydacz, the Polish head of state’s policy priorities also include strengthening bilateral ties with the United States, reinforcing Poland’s image as a major player on the international scene, and boosting relations with other “key partners, such as Britain, the countries of Western Europe and partners in Central and  Eastern Europe.”

Regional policy

Duda is also set to focus on regional policy, including through the Polish-led Three Seas Initiative and the Bucharest Nine group of eastern-flank NATO allies, Przydacz said. 

He reiterated that "bilateral relations with Ukraine, in a broad sense, are of special importance.”

These relations include “political ties as well as issues to do with remembrance of history,” Przydacz added.

Friday is day 324 of Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, prezydent.pl