Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak outlined the need for 'a new NATO' during a speech in Washington on Tuesday, looking ahead to the organisation's 2016 summit in Warsaw.

Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak(L) and US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter (R) listen to the Polish national anthem during an honor cordon ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, USA, 19 May 2015. EPA/SHAWN THEW

“Our decision to host the NATO summit in 2016 springs from the deep conviction that there is a need for a new NATO and an accompanying adaptation strategy,” the minister stressed during his speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Referring to the conflict in Ukraine, he argued that “the deterioration of the security situation, especially on the eastern flank of the Alliance, has an enduring character” and that NATO needs to be altered so as to adapt to this reality.

“We would like the summit in Warsaw to initiate the next stage of NATO's strategic adaptation,” he underlined.

“Its main aim should be to strengthen the Alliance's forces in their entirety, and not just units for immediate action.

“The profile of the NATO structure has to be changed so that it gives the Alliance the ability to respond not only at the level of brigades (3,000-6,000 soldiers), but also at the level of divisions (5000-15,000) and corps (15,000-45,000).”

In an allusion to Ukraine's lack of NATO membership, Siemoniak said that “the Alliance cannot be limited just to activities that concern the security of its members.

“I think that some European allies have shown excessive caution here,” he added.

Siemoniak also met with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, and the two discussed NATO, bilateral relations as well as Poland's recent decision to purchase American patriot missiles.

According to a Department of Defense press release, Secretary Carter “welcomed Poland's decision to purchase the Patriot missile defense system and thanked Minister Siemoniak for Poland's pledge to increase its defense spending to two percent GDP and its commitment to defense modernization.”

The pair also discussed recent rotational exercises by US forces on Polish soil and in the region, part of Operation Atlantic Resolve. (nh)

Source: PAP

