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PM says Poland will use its 2025 EU presidency to strengthen alliance with US

11.04.2023 11:30
Poland will use its presidency of the European Union in 2025 to strengthen Europe's alliance with the United States, the Polish prime minister has said. 
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki briefs reporters ahead of his departure from Warsaws Okęcie Airport for a three-day visit to the United States, on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki briefs reporters ahead of his departure from Warsaw's Okęcie Airport for a three-day visit to the United States, on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. PAP/Paweł Supernak

Mateusz Morawiecki made the declaration ahead of his trip to America on Tuesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Speaking to the media at Warsaw’s Okęcie Airport, the prime minister said that “Polish-American relations have never been so strong” and that “the alliance with the United States is the absolute foundation of our security.”

Morawiecki stressed that his three-day visit to America “results directly from US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Poland” and that he would seek “to strengthen the alliance with our most powerful ally,” the IAR news agency reported.

Trans-Atlantic partnership comes first: Polish PM

The Polish prime minister declared: “In just under two years, when Poland presides over the EU, we’ll make the trans-Atlantic partnership, the alliance between the EU and the US, the most important part of our presidency.”

Morawiecki said that Poland’s security rested on two pillars: economic cooperation with America and defence cooperation with Washington.

He declared: “I am going to the United States to strengthen both of these pillars.”   

Polish PM to visit US arms plants, talk about 'financial matters'

Morawiecki told reporters: “I want to approve and expand our arms contracts - those that are also the basis of our security in the future. Therefore, I will not only visit armaments factories but will also talk about financial matters.”

'I want to create tens of thousands of jobs'

He added he would also hold talks to further economic links between Poland and the United States.

Morawiecki said: “The Americans have invested more than USD 25 billion in Poland, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. I want to create tens of thousands of new jobs more by expanding our cooperation and by strengthening our cooperation in nuclear energy.”

He added that “Polish nuclear energy built in cooperation with American suppliers” would be part of the “strategic Polish-American partnership” and “boost Poland’s energy security.” 

Morawiecki said that Poland also sought to create new jobs in cooperation with US tech giants Google, Microsoft and Facebook, the PAP news agency reported. 

NATO equipment in Poland

The prime minister also declared that Poland would continue to expand its military storage facilities “to house several thousand pieces of NATO military equipment in Powidz and other bases around Poland.”   

Morawiecki said this hardware would include tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, “that will enable NATO’s eastern flank to be quickly activated.”

“The mere possibility of this will deter our enemies,” he added.  

Support for Ukraine

Morawiecki told reporters he would begin his US visit on Tuesday by meeting with Vice-President Kamala Harris.

He revealed that one of the topics under discussion would be Russia’s war against Ukraine and further support for Kyiv. 

The Polish prime minister said that while in America, he would “lobby for support to Ukraine, so that Poland can be secure.”    

Business ties, security, energy

Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller told reporters on Monday that Morawiecki’s US visit would focus on Polish-American economic cooperation, security and joint energy projects, the PAP news agency reported.

The Polish prime minister was set to meet with Harris and US defence industry executives, as well as take part in debates at the International Monetary Fund and the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, according to officials.  

Tuesday is day 412 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, tysol.pl