Following a meeting with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte in Vilnius on Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared that Poland and Lithuania serve as a prime example of how nations working together can build a united and robust Europe.
During a joint press conference with Simonyte, the Prime Minister revealed that their discussions centred on bolstering defence policies and coordinating joint military exercises as a response to the potential military threat posed by Russia.
“We know perfectly well that if we want peace, we must prepare for war,” he said.
Morawiecki assessed that the role of Poland and Lithuania is “enormous” amid Russian propaganda and that “if we speak with Lithuania with one voice, it is a significant strengthening of Poland’s voice on the international arena.”
He also argued that Central and Eastern Europe is under a geopolitical curse.
“But we have shown that we do not intend to succumb to the judgments of history. We survived totalitarianism, Soviet totalitarianism, but today this Russian imperialism is rearing its head again, and hence our joint actions with other Central European states and the Baltic states are so important,” Morawiecki said.
According to him, “the war in Ukraine… is a moment of historical awakening.”
“Ukrainians reminded us of the existence of values that are worth living for, but also worth dying for,” Morawiecki said, adding that “the idea of a sovereign state is something timeless.”
Simonyte said that Lithuania and Poland share a special partnership.
“Historically, our nations have always been united by a desire for freedom and a clear understanding that only united we are strong,” she said.
According to her, Lithuania and Poland are today among the most active supporters of Ukraine in defending it against brutal Russian aggression.
“We understand well that Russia, blinded by its imperial ambitions, is trespassing not only on the freedom of Ukraine, but also on the freedom of democratic values and the rules-based world order of our nations and of Europe as a whole, Simonyte argued.
She highlighted the importance of defence cooperation between the two countries.
“Without a safe Lithuania, there can be no safe Poland and vice versa,” Simonyte said.