Former defence ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia agree on beginning closer cooperation with the Scandinavian countries on defence matters. Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of Law and Justice, also spoke about this initiative.
At the Law and Justice Programmatic Congress “Thinking Poland,” Mariusz Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence in Mateusz Morawiecki’s government; Laurynas Kasčiūnas, former Minister of National Defence and member of the Seimas of Lithuania; Anti Poolamets, member of the Estonian Parliament; Raimonds Bergmanis, former Minister of Defence and member of the Saeima of Latvia; and Monika Michaliszyn, former Polish ambassador to Latvia, discussed NATO’s eastern flank.
We perceive the threats similarly
“Poland should begin close cooperation with Scandinavia. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland have achievements in defence, significant industrial capacity in the defence sector, and the Scandinavian states themselves constitute a real reinforcement for NATO’s eastern flank. It is very good that Sweden and Finland have joined NATO. And another crucial point: the Scandinavian countries, the Baltic states, and Poland perceive the threats similarly. We similarly assess that Putin’s construction of a Russian empire constitutes a real danger to all of us. To deter the aggressor, we must strengthen these relations; I am grateful to my colleagues from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia that we could discuss this today. This was the first meeting. We will continue it, also inviting politicians from the Scandinavian countries and politicians from conservative parties. Our guests today from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are representatives of conservative parties, as Law and Justice is a conservative party. Conservatism allows us to build even closer relations, tied to an identical perception of how to build the resilience of the state to deter the Russian aggressor,” Mariusz Błaszczak told niezalezna.pl.
This is a response to Putin
“Cooperation between Poland, the Baltic countries, and the Scandinavian countries is a great potential,” emphasized former deputy prime minister Mariusz Błaszczak during the session.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas pointed out that European countries have little time to begin thinking differently about their cooperation. Its strength should lie in a shared approach to defence, and Poland should lead this initiative. Of course, this will take place under the patronage of the United States, the administration of Donald Trump. According to Anti Poolamets, there are many reasons why we must cooperate. NATO’s eastern flank stretches for thousands of kilometres. Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are not isolated islands. Finland has already completely closed its border with Russia; Poland should do the same.
Raimonds Bergmanis: “Talks with partners are extremely important. I thank Ministers Błaszczak and Macierewicz that we can talk. We all understand how great a threat Russia is. Scandinavia and Poland must cooperate. This is a response to Putin: ‘We are not alone, we act together, quickly and effectively. And we have Patriots.’”
Russia’s aggression could have been predicted
“The late President Lech Kaczyński warned against Russian imperialism in Tbilisi in 2008, in 2009 on Westerplatte, and also in the presence of Putin and Merkel. Germany and Russia built the northern gas pipeline, which was not a business project but a political one. Our task is to strengthen the Polish armed forces. During Donald Tusk’s first government, military units were disbanded; we rebuilt them when Law and Justice came to power in 2015, but now that process has again been slowed. We need to return to building the Polish army through its size and its equipment with modern weaponry,” Mariusz Błaszczak added in an interview with Niezalezna.pl.