Polish-Swedish deliberations on security issues
War has returned to Europe, and Poland and Sweden – responding to the threat in the region – must strengthen military cooperation to secure the Baltic Sea and allied lines of communication, while deterring the Russian Baltic Fleet. This was also pointed out by President Andrzej Duda, who assessed Sweden’s accession to NATO as gaining a valuable ally precisely in the Baltic Sea region, said BBN Chief Jacek Siewiera, who together with Henrik Landerholm, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sweden, opened the Polish-Swedish roundtable talks on security policy.
Representatives of the state administration, the armed forces and non-governmental experts from Poland and Sweden discussed on 15 April 2024 at the Belvedere, among other issues, the threats posed by Russian-Belarusian cooperation, military activity on the Alliance’s eastern flank and in the Baltic Sea, NATO strategic adaptation, Allied and EU assistance to Ukraine, Polish-Swedish security cooperation, also in the context of Sweden’s recent admission to the Alliance’s structures.
“I believe that today’s discussion will take our cooperation, as well as cooperation within NATO, to a new level. We must seize the opportunity to pursue our common security interests within the Alliance and the EU.” – emphasised the BBN Chief. “Poland and Sweden, together with other allies, have a unique opportunity to establish sustainable regional deterrence structures that will deter Russia from pursuing its imperial policies. The Ukrainian forces, by stopping the Russian army at Kiev in 2022, have bought us time and we have an obligation to make the most of it. I am convinced that today’s roundtable will serve this purpose,” – Minister Jacek Siewiera said on Monday at the Belvedere.
Henrik Landerholm, National Security Advisor in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Sweden, co-organiser of the Polish-Swedish security consultations, stressed that bilateral meetings should – in various formats – be held regularly, as they allow for a better understanding of the two countries’ different but increasingly common strategic cultures. Poland’s role in NATO has been transformed in recent years, he added. From being important, it has become a critical and central ally, shaping Euro-Atlantic security.
“With Finland and Sweden as NATO members, almost all countries around the Baltic now share a common defence for the first time in 500 years. We are not only good neighbours, we are allies. Sweden will now defend freedom, with the countries not only closest geographically, but also in terms of values,” – Henrik Landerholm said.
The meeting at Belvedere was also attended by Peter Sandwall – Secretary of State at the Swedish Ministry of Defence, Paweł Bejda – Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence, Lieutenant General Piotr Blazeusz – Commander of Eurocorps, Lieutenant General Dariusz Łukowski – Deputy Chief of the National Security Agency, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, among others, the Centre for Eastern Studies, the Polish Institute of International Affairs and the German Marshall Fund.
The Polish-Swedish Security Roundtable is a continuation of consultations co-organised since 2018 by the BBN, the Swedish Ministry of Defence and the Swedish Embassy in Warsaw. The last meeting in this format was held in 2022 in Stockholm. With the appointment in November 2022 of. Henrik Landerholm to the newly created office of Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sweden, it was his office that became the natural partner for the event. Senior officials, military officers and selected non-governmental experts from both countries take part in the regular talks. This year’s meeting is hosted by Poland. The purpose of the talks is to consult on key security and defence issues: the situation in the region, NATO’s deterrence and defence policy, non-military threats and Polish-Swedish cooperation in bilateral and multilateral dimensions.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
