By Barbara Erling and Justyna Pawlak
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland wants more NATO members’ navies to take part in policing the Baltic Sea, including those from beyond the region, in view of the potential threat from Russia, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
Warsaw will call for wider engagement from allies at the next NATO summit in The Hague next June, he also said in an interview with Reuters.
The importance of securing the Baltic was brought into sharp focus in November when two undersea fibre-optic cables were cut, with allied countries saying they suspected sabotage.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said that just as allies patrol and secure the air space over the Baltic states, countries beyond the region should also contribute to naval patrols in the sea.
“Those who are far from the conflict with Ukraine, those countries that are not as directly engaged as Poland, should contribute to security in this way,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
The minister’s comments reflect a view among many European leaders that the continent urgently needs to bolster its defences, driven by fears that an EU country could be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s next target after Ukraine.
The imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and the United States’ increasing focus on China have also raised concern.
When asked if Poland was ready to fight back against Russia, Kosiniak-Kamysz said: “Many of the things that are happening – these are actions that are dictated by the idea of deterrence, primarily deterrence, so that it would not be profitable for any country, in this case the one that is a precisely defined adversary, i.e. the Russian Federation, to attack Europe and attack NATO countries.”
He highlighted Germany and France as countries who could contribute naval forces to patrolling the Baltic Sea.
Asked if the United States could help, Kosiniak-Kamysz said: “We are at a point where Europe needs to prove its ability to defend itself in order to keep Americans in Europe.”
The election of Trump to a second presidential term has raised questions about the U.S. commitment to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and about Washington’s role in NATO.
But as the new administration takes office on Jan. 20, Kosiniak-Kamysz sees an opportunity for Poland.
The country has shown itself to be a good business partner and a proven ally by being NATO’s biggest defence spender in terms of GDP, and a heavy purchaser of U.S. defence equipment, Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
SPENDING
Because of growing threats, Poland has repeatedly raised the importance of increasing defence spending.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said the EU must spend at least 100 billion euros on defence, because “without a shift in the European Union’s approach, which today spends one and a half billion euros on the defense industry.. this will end badly”.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called on the alliance to increase military support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion in order to strengthen Kiev’s position ahead of possible negotiations with Moscow to end the war.
While Norway announced the deployment of its F-35 fighters to safeguard Polish air space, Polish MiG-29 jets, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly requested, cannot yet be sent to Ukraine, Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
“The condition that gives the Polish state the chance for complete security is not met,” he said. “We need a full schedule of support.”
While it welcomed the Norwegian deployment, Poland expected more from its allies and was talking to them about it, he said.
(Reporting by Barbara Erling and Justyna Pawlak, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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