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Polish president to hold talks with NATO chief in Brussels

15.02.2023 09:30
Poland’s president is set to meet with the secretary-general of NATO in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss strengthening the Western military alliance’s eastern flank and preparations for an upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Polish President Andrzej Duda
Polish President Andrzej DudaPhoto: PAP/Radek Pietruszka

President Andrzej Duda will be hosted by Jens Stoltenberg at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday afternoon, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

The meeting is set to begin at 3:30 p.m., officials said.

Support for Ukraine, bolstering NATO’s eastern flank, Vilnius summit

The Polish president told reporters that his talks with Stoltenberg would be part of wider diplomatic efforts undertaken together with the Polish government and the presidents of Lithuania and Ukraine. 

Duda said the meeting would focus on “the summit of the Bucharest Nine (B9) group of eastern-flank NATO allies,” to be held in Poland later this month, “the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania,” and “the two issues that are most important to us, namely NATO's support for Ukraine and secondly the strengthening of our security through the intensification of NATO’s efforts.”

Brussels is the first stop on Duda’s diplomatic tour this week, which will also take in London and Munich as the Polish president discusses further support for Ukraine with fellow world leaders, officials said. 

On Wednesday, Duda is set to hold a video call with Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and Lithuania’s Gitanas Nausėda, the IAR news agency reported.

Both Čaputová and Nausėda will be in Warsaw for the B9 summit on February 22, which will take place during US President Joe Biden’s visit to Poland.  

Meetings with UK, German, French leaders

On Thursday, Duda will travel to Britain for talks on security issues with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London.

On Friday, the Polish president will be hosted by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Later in the day, Duda will head to Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference, officials said.

On the sidelines of the event, he will take part in a meeting of the Weimar Triangle format on Friday evening. 

Duda will convene with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. 

On Saturday, the Polish head of state will hold talks with the newly elected Czech President Petr Pavel and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, the IAR news agency reported.

Wednesday is day 357 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, dorzeczy.pl