Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Poland is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), where its official membership began on March 12, 1999. During the Cold War, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of the celebration of the 26th anniversary since Poland joined NATO on March 12, 1999. It is a happy anniversary. “Poland makes significant contributions to Allied security. You lead by example when it comes to investing in defense, pledging 4.7 percent of defense spending this year. You host one of NATO’s forward-deployed ground forces, sending a strong signal of our readiness to deter and defend. You contribute to NATO’s multinational presence in Latvia and Romania. Later this month, Poland will contribute to NATO’s Baltic air surveillance mission. On land, at sea, and in the air, Poland has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to doing its part in our great alliance. Your NATO allies stand with you. You play a vital role in supporting our partner and neighbor, Ukraine. These are uncertain times, and I know that some may have concerns about the future of NATO. So let me be clear, the transatlantic relationship and the transatlantic partnership remain the foundation of our alliance. President Trump has made clear the United States’ commitment and his personal commitment to NATO, and he has also made clear the expectation that we in Europe must do more on defense spending—and here, Once again, Poland is leading the way. Speaking at a joint press conference following talks with the Polish president in Brussels recently, Rutte said: “We are already seeing movement in the right direction. Last year, defence investment rose by 20% for Europe and Canada. And the Allies are actively working on what more they can do. In the past two weeks alone, Denmark and the United Kingdom have announced major steps. Germany, France and the Czech Republic have taken important steps, the Czech Republic recently announced. I very much welcome these developments because our common security is our collective responsibility. As the Allies increase their defence investments, many of them are also working on how to contribute to a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. We all want to see an end to Russian aggression and an agreement that ensures lasting peace for a sovereign Ukraine.” So, again, thank you, Andrzej, for Poland’s steadfast support for Ukraine and your valuable contributions to NATO.

During the joint press conference, Andrew Gray of Reuters asked, “As you know, the United States has in recent days cut off military and intelligence support to Ukraine. How much, if any, does that mean for NATO’s support for Ukraine? And more broadly, what does that say about the cohesion and future of NATO as an alliance when the United States is weakening Ukraine on the battlefield and thereby strengthening Russia?”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded, “First of all, let me make it clear, it is important that Ukraine is in a position of strength, especially when peace talks begin, whatever form they may take. So support must continue. And so I very much welcome that the United States and Ukraine, as we speak, are discussing how to move forward on this, how to resolve some of the difficulties that exist, based on the letter and the tweet, and then the follow-up letter from President Zelensky last Tuesday. So that is continuing now. I am cautiously optimistic that this will lead to good results. So it's best not to comment on the "what ifs," because my assumptions, again, cautiously optimistic, are that things could move forward in a positive sense. As for the European news network Euronews, it asked a question through Dominika Kosik, which came as follows: “I have two questions. First, to the Secretary General, I wanted to ask you, because you already mentioned that Poland plays a special role. And how can you, how can NATO use the fact that President Duda has a good relationship with both President Trump and Zelensky. Do you have an idea of ​​how to use this opportunity? And my second question to President Duda, what do you think about the idea of ​​sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine, even in a peacekeeping mission, and if not, if you do not support this decision, why do you think it is a bad idea? Thank you very much.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
Well, thank you for asking me, and it is absolutely true that President Duda has been working very closely with President Trump as I did when I was Prime Minister of the Netherlands and the President as President of the Republic since 2016, since 2016, in early 2017, when President Trump started his first four years in the White House. And I think it is good that we have experienced leaders in Europe who can easily contact our colleagues on The other side of the Atlantic, in this case, with President Trump, and President Duda recently visited Washington. I was on the phone with President Trump myself last week. We also hope to meet again in Washington.