NATO's summit of unity: Zbigniew Gniatkowski reviews the recent NATO deliberations in Warsaw.
Author | Gniatkowski, Zbigniew |
Position | Poland - Conference notes |
The Warsaw NATO Summit was a clear success. It showed that NATO can be stronger in defence and deterrence, and can do more to project stability beyond the Alliances borders. Held on 8-9 July, with more than 2200 delegates, including nineteen heads of state and twenty heads of government, it was the largest high-level event ever organised in Poland. The summit's host was Polands President Andrzej Duda, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg chairing the meeting.
The most important decisions, in the spirit of the 360 degrees principle, strengthen the military security of the Alliances eastern and southern flanks. We are particularly satisfied with the establishment of an enhanced forward NATO presence in Poland and the three Baltic states.
The summit was also an opportunity to strengthen NATO--European Union co-operation. The NATO allies stressed its importance for security-building both inside and outside Europe. To this end a joint declaration was adopted that aims to stimulate closer co-operation and make us discuss concrete options at the end of this year. For Poland, the most important message was that of NATO and the European Union co-operating in the areas of hybrid and cyber threats as well as in missions and operations, including maritime ones.
The summit decisions also serve as a clear signal to Russia that the Alliance is determined to defend all allied territory. Poland is open to focused dialogue with Russia, but dealing with that country in our opinion requires a proper order of action: deterrence first, then dialogue.
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Projecting stability beyond our borders in co-operation with partners is another important dimension of NATO's efforts in securing the Euro-Atlantic area. What was decided at the summit is an important stage of NATO strengthening and a starting point for further adaptation of NATO, resulting from the evaluation of the current and projected security environment. Full implementation is a precondition of our credibility and security.
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We have reasons to be satisfied not only with the political decisions that were made at the symbolic NATO Summit in Warsaw but also with the fact that we managed to create a unique atmosphere of hospitality around the event.
New challenge
Since the end of the Cold War, we have come a long way, and secured peace and stability within our trans-Atlantic community. We have been successful because we firmly believe that every nation has the...
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