Joint press point

Mr President, it is a pleasure to be back in Warsaw.

Poland is a proud NATO member, strongly committed to the Alliance. And the Alliance is committed to Poland’s defence.

You are a strong contributor to NATO operations. In Kosovo and Afghanistan, your forces have served with bravery and distinction.  I pay tribute to their service and sacrifice. 

In Afghanistan, our goal is in sight. We have improved our security by helping Afghans take control of their own security. We have stopped al-Qaeda using it as a safe haven. We are building strong Afghan security forces. And by doing so, we have made our Alliance, and the whole world, safer. I thank Poland for your strong contribution in Afghanistan and I count on your continued support beyond 2014. 
 
Your commitment to our security goes beyond our operations. Your defence expenditures are close to NATO target of 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product. You are a strong supporter of multinational cooperation both in NATO and the EU and devote considerable resources to modernisation. You contribute to keeping NATO forces ready and connected through cooperation with your neighbours and by hosting a major NATO exercise this fall, Steadfast Jazz. You are also contributing to NATO’s missile defence.

Through all these, you strengthen NATO’s core task of collective defence, to which we remain fully committed. And you show a strong example of what we need in Europe now. A strong Europe and a strong NATO. A Europe of hard power, as well as soft power. A Europe which invests in modern, effective capabilities, and has the will to use them.

That is the Europe that NATO needs. It is the Europe that Europe itself needs. And it is the Europe that Poland is committed to helping build.

So Mr President, I thank you for all Poland has done to build a strong Europe and a strong NATO. And I count on your continued support in the years to come.

Dziękuję bardzo.