Poland’s National Security Council will meet next week to discuss Russia’s more than two-year-old war in Ukraine and its implications for regional security, officials have announced.
Polish President Andrzej Duda speaks during a major NATO military exercise in northern Poland on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa
The council is scheduled to convene at 9 a.m. on Monday, March 11, following a decision by President Andrzej Duda, state news agency PAP reported.
„On Monday, March 11, before my visit to the United States, I will convene the National Security Council to show the unity of the Polish political scene in security matters,” Duda said on Tuesday.
The National Security Council advises the president and includes senior officials such as the Speakers of both houses of parliament, the prime minister, the defence, interior and foreign ministers, and prominent politicians from both the government and opposition.
The head of the president’s National Security Bureau (BBN) is also a member of the National Security Council (RBN).
Monday’s meeting, which is expected to be held behind closed doors, will focus on national security challenges resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Polish National Security Bureau.
Other topics include Poland’s relations with its NATO allies and transatlantic cooperation, it said.
Duda and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk are set to visit US President Joe Biden at the White House on March 12.
During the visit, „the leaders will reaffirm their unwavering support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s brutal war of conquest,” according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
„The meeting also coincides with the 25th anniversary of Poland’s accession to NATO and underscores the United States’ and Poland’s shared ironclad commitment to the NATO Alliance, which makes us all safer,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement last month.
„The three will coordinate ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Washington,” the statement added.
Polish Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said in a media interview in February that the upcoming joint visit by the Polish president and prime minister to Washington shows that all major political forces in Poland „share the same opinion about Russia and Ukraine.”
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP