Deputy Secretary General marks first anniversary of NATO’s enhanced forward presence in Poland
NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller began a trip to Poland with a visit to the NATO multinational battlegroup in Orzysz on Friday (16 March 2018). Led by the US, the battlegroup is one of four that are operational in the eastern part of the Alliance.
Hosted by the Deputy Defence minister and the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Secretary General thanked the troops for their service and professionalism. The US-led battlegroup includes troops and equipment from Croatia, Poland, Romania and the UK. The Deputy Secretary General was joined by senior diplomats from these countries.
Rose Gottemoeller stressed that the NATO battlegroups symbolise the spirit of the Alliance: all for one and one for all. “That commitment – that promise – to defend each other - has been at the heart of NATO’s success over the past seven decades,” she said.
The Deputy Secretary General went on to meet the Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak in Warsaw, whom she thanked for Poland’s strong commitment to Alliance solidarity and adaptation.