NATO prepared to defend Europe: Polish president
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
28.06.2018 11:42
NATO's bolstering of its eastern flank shows that the alliance is ready to defend Europe, Polish President Andrzej Duda said after meeting Polish troops stationed in Latvia on Thursday.
Andrzej Duda. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka.
Together with Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, Duda met Polish soldiers who make up the NATO multinational battalion battle group stationed in the Baltic country.
Błaszczak said he was impressed that the battalion’s troops', who come from eight different countries, were able to work together.
The group was deployed to Latvia following a decision at the NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016 to bolster the European Union’s eastern flank, in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
The multinational battalion battle group is 1,300 strong. Poland’s contingency in Latvia numbers 170.
Before returning to Poland, Duda is to meet Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis in the northeastern city of Daugavpils for a ceremony commemorating Polish soldiers who fell during fighting with Bolsheviks during the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1920.
He is also expected to meet with the Polish community in Daugavpils and to watch Poland play against Japan in the football World Cup in Russia. (vb)
Source: IAR