UPDATE: Polish PM presents security and defence report to parliament
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday presented a report to the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, on the international situation and its implications for the security of Poland.
Tusk took part in a meeting of European leaders organised by the British prime minister in London on Sunday and a special EU summit on security and support for Ukraine held in Brussels on Thursday.
"Following numerous discussions and summits, a comprehensive... image is developing that we cannot ignore despite its discomfort for us, a picture that reflects the ongoing transformations in the realm of geopolitics," Tusk said.
In his address, Tusk mentioned the two dimensions of the country's security: the trans-Atlantic alliance with the United States and Poland's strong position in unified Europe.
"It's not easy to reconcile these evident needs today," he said, referring to the growing rift between US President Donald Trump's administration and the EU.
He said the US policy towards the war in Ukraine was undergoing "a deep correction," adding that Poland's approach to trans-Atlantic relations and NATO "must remain unchallenged," yet the country should "draw conclusions for its own security."
He said Poland "is not changing its opinion on the fundamental need to maintain the closest possible ties with the United States and NATO."
Turning to Europe's renewed determination to boost its defences, Tusk said Poland had suggested setting up a European "armaments bank" that would finance defence investments.
The bank would operate similarly to the already existing European Investment Bank, but "would be dedicated exclusively to defence issues," Tusk said.
"Today it's too early to say that this proposal was met with agreement from other partners, but they'll have something to think about," he said.
Tusk also reported on the European Commission's (EC) decision to allow member states to exclude defence spending from deficit calculations, giving them a margin to invest in defence without running the risk of facing the EU's deficit restrictions, and the EC's initiative to ease various regulations, including those related to climate, when investing in defence.
He also said Poland would move funds from other non-crucial projects to defence.
Additionally, Tusk suggested he would support Poland's potential decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines and the Dublin Convention on migration.
The prime minister said Poland would work on and try to acquire "non-conventional means of defence."
"We're talking with France about the nuclear umbrella idea (proposed by France - PAP)," Tusk said. "It's time to be more assertive about the most modern battlefield technologies. Conventional means are no longer enough."
"We must look for the most modern solutions related to nuclear weapons and state-of-the-art conventional weapons," he said.
In light of the recent shift in US policy, Tusk remarked that it is improbable for Ukraine to obtain robust security guarantees moving forward.
"The hope that Ukraine should receive strong security guarantees in the nearest future, including the physical presence of the United States to secure those guarantees, seems less likely today, to say it mildly, than it used to be," he said. (PAP)
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