National Position Statement: Poland
Nicole Macagna
Kate Czarniak
March 12, 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of Poland’s membership in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Reflecting on the past ten years, Poland maintains
secure allegiance to NATO while recognizing that the organization must evolve to meet
today’s unique challenges. Poland upholds support for NATO’s original mission to be a
multilateral military response force aimed at deflecting international security threats.
Given the current crises in Afghanistan and Iraq, the increasing threat of global terrorism
and the political and military antagonisms occurring between some of our neighbors,
most notably Russia and Georgia, we believe strongly in NATO’s continued existence.
However, in order for NATO to meet its objectives of fostering transatlantic alliances and
promoting peace, it must undergo several changes. The first of these is to expand its
membership. We advocate the enlargement of NATO to include the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine. Co-opting these countries into our
alliance will increase NATO’s overall knowledge base and facilitate democratic
transformations in these countries. We realize that there is pronounced opposition in
NATO to extending membership to these countries and we hope that agreement on this
issue will be forthcoming in the near future. Second, we advocate a more active and
deliberate relationship between NATO and the European Union (EU). If NATO is to
play an effective role in international peacekeeping, peace-making, development
assistance and stabilization, it must fortify its relationship with the EU, which is more
capable and skilled than NATO in some of these areas, particularly development. NATO
and the EU should not only coexist but collaborate. Our Defense Minister Bogdan Klich
has even suggested forming an institutional framework between NATO and the EU.
Poland has much to contribute to NATO’s agenda. In terms of stabilization and peacekeeping, Poland is committed to providing military troops where necessary. Our country
presently has 300 soldiers in Kosovo and 1,600 in Afghanistan’s Ghanzi province. For
security purposes, Poland is home to the Joint Forces Training Centre, which is an
essential component of NATO’s command structure. We also engage in state-building,
particularly in Afghanistan. Like many of our European cohorts, we agree that NATO
should focus on improving the performance of the Afghan military and police and
strengthening democratic institutions. Our troops in Afghanistan are addressing these
issues. Poland is also helping advance NATO’s development agenda. In Afghanistan, in
particular, we are contributing aid money to the country’s reconstruction efforts and are
working on improving the distribution of this aid.
We believe that, in the case of a joint response to crisis situations that require
development assistance or stabilization, the division of labor between Europeans and
Americans should be determined given the respective available resources of each
country. Our approach will balance appropriate financial contributions with consulting
and conflict resolution measures. Coordination between all participating parties is
absolutely necessary to ensure an effective response.
We will support the EU’s policy with respect to our participation in foreign stabilization,
development, or combat missions. Our full participation in the planning and
implementation of said missions is a prerequisite for sustained involvement. In
accordance with the EU-NATO Declaration on European Security and Defense Policy
(ESDP), we insist on effective coordination between all participating parties, so as to
facilitate transparency, accountability, and dialogue. It is extremely important that
cooperative development assistance take into account the individual financial resources
of each participating state. Our country was a recipient of development aid in the not-sodistant past. We are now able to financially support those countries requiring financial
assistance but believe that respective financial situations of participating countries are
taken into consideration. Since our accession into the EU in 2004, we have taken an
active role in diplomatic relations with neighboring states. Our continued involvement is
absolutely necessary in strengthening Poland’s economic, social, and military ties with
these nations. It is also important that we develop a strong relationship with our
American counterparts, and we will participate in development missions as per the
balanced approach previously described. In accordance with EU policy, military
missions should only be used a last resort when crisis situations cannot be solved by
humanitarian and civic intervention alone.