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Last update: 17-Feb-2006 13:50 NATO Update

16 Feb. 2006

 

NATO Secretary General visits Poland

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15 Feb. 2006 NATO
NATO Secretary General to visit Poland
Opinion
Speech by the Secretary General at the National School of Public Administration

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer discussed the Alliance’s transformation and key issues such as energy security with Poland’s top officials during a one-day visit to Warsaw, 16 February.

The Secretary General met with President Lech Kaczynski, Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Foreign Minister Stefan Meller, Defence Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, and the Speaker of the Sejm (Polish Parliament), Mr. Marek Jurek.

Breaking new ground

He praised Poland for its engagement in NATO’s operations, including the Alliance’s support to the international relief effort after the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

He also said that Poland is “breaking new ground conceptually for NATO” , for example by raising energy security as a legitimate subject for discussion among the Allies.

Among other issues, the Secretary General discussed Ukraine’s aspirations for NATO membership and the Alliance’s political agenda ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Riga.

The Secretary General also found time to meet with representatives of the ‘successor generation’.

In a speech at at the National School of Public Administration he laid out the expectations for the Riga summit: “In November, when NATO’s Heads of State and Government will meet for our Summit in Riga, we will take this adaptation of our Alliance another major step further,” he told the students.

We will confirm NATO's expanding commitment to Afghanistan; we will welcome the full operational capability of our NATO Response Force, and agree on other measures to better support our operations.

Poland has been a member of NATO since 1999.