Poland's Nato membership a symbol of national unity says Duda
Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, has said in a televised message that Poland's Nato accession is one of the greatest achievements of Poland's newest history.
Speaking to the Polish people on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Poland joining Nato on Monday, the president said that owing to the membership of the alliance Poland was today a safe country.
"Poland's membership of Nato is a symbol of our national unity," Duda said.
"Twenty-five years ago, the dream of generations of Poles had come true. On March 12, 1999, Poland, together with the Czech Republic and Hungary, were officially admitted to the alliance," the president continued.
Having recalled that, for the first time, Nato had expanded eastwards and that the countries which had joined the alliance on that day had earlier belonged to the Soviet sphere of interests, Duda said that this was the true end of the Cold War and the final fall of the Iron Curtain.
Duda went on to say that "since the very beginning, the idea of Poland's Nato membership had always been excluded from political dispute in Poland," and added that it had always enjoyed support of right-wing, centre and left-wing parties.
Speaking ahead of his visit to Washington on Tuesday, the president said that strong support from the US had been of key significance for Poland's Nato accession, and recalled that Poland had started its membership negotiations with the Republican Administration of President George Bush Senior and was admitted to the alliance during Bill Clinton's presidency.
"The strategic Polish-US cooperation has been developing irrespective of who has been holding power in Poland and the US," Duda said, adding that he had convened a meeting of the National Security Council earlier in the day to send a clear signal that "Poland has been speaking with one voice about its security."
The Polish president will be accompanied by Donald Tusk, the country's prime minister, on his trip to Washington on March 12 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Poland's Nato membership.
Poland is one of the leaders among Nato countries in terms of the amount it spends on defence, the Polish defence minister has recently said, adding that "among the countries of Nato, we spend the most relative to our economy - 4.23 percent of GDP."
Exactly 32 countries are now members of the North Atlantic Alliance. Sweden has recently joined, becoming its second new member after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (PAP)
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