Poland - Afghanistan role is priority

Bogdan Klich with Robert Gates in Brussels; photo - EPA/Oliver Hoslet

“We want to fulfil the duty we assumed ten years ago by joining the operation in Afghanistan. This is a fundamental task, which will determine [Poland’s] credibility in the [NATO] alliance. If we want to realise our task well, we cannot divide our resources,” Minister Klich told journalists yesterday at a three-day meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

Poland currently has 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, based mainly in the Ghazni province.

Klich’s comments are a response to US secretary of defence Robert Gates’s demand on Wednesday that Poland, Germany and other NATO allies must do more in Libya, where France and the UK are leading operations in defence of civilians and in support of rebel forces fighting the regime of Col. Gaddafi.

Bogdan Klich, who met with Robert Gates on Thursday, reminded that Poland has offered humanitarian aid to the Libyan people and its experience in building democracy and political support to the insurgents.

The US’s call for more involvement in the Libya campaign comes after three months of stalemate between the Gaddafi regime and rebel forces.

Meanwhile, Klich said it was too early to make a definite statement on whether Poland would be buying second-hand Patriot missiles from Germany, to add to its air defence systems.

Klich had talks with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere on Thursday. (pg/kk)