Prague will support Warsaw in its efforts to secure a permanent NATO military presence in Poland, a senior Czech official has said.

The Czech minister for European affairs, Tomas Prouza, told the PAP news agency that his country “will absolutely support Poland during the [July NATO] summit in Warsaw."

Prouza spoke to PAP during an international conference held in London recently to raise money to aid Syria.

Warsaw is to host a NATO summit 8-9 July. Beefing up the military alliance’s presence in Central and Eastern Europe is a key goal for Poland, which considers Russia, its giant neighbour to the east, a major potential threat to its security.

Polish President Andrzej Duda will devote the first half of this year to efforts to build a consensus in NATO on increasing the alliance’s presence in the region, a senior presidential aide said last month.

In a key policy speech in the Polish parliament at the end of last month, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that cooperation with Visegrad Group countries would be a priority for Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) government, formed after the party won general elections in October.

The Visegrad Group comprises Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia

(pk)

Source: PAP