Polish PM calls on Europe to unite around core values and security
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for a European mobilisation centred on fundamental values and security during his participation in the Dutch Liberation Day celebrations.
This year, the Dutch are celebrating the 80th anniversary of the country's liberation from Nazi occupation during World War Two.
During his speech delivered at the commemorative event held on Monday in the Dutch central city of Wageningen, Tusk said that the celebrations were taking place in the shadow of Russia's aggression on Ukraine which had resulted in widespread war and devastation on a large scale.
"Let us not turn a blind eye to the resurgence of evil," he said, making an appeal for "genuine solidarity" among Europeans.
Tusk told the attendees that in light of the threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin's Russia, "the era of Europe's carefree comfort, joyous unconcern" had come to an end and called for mobilisation around the continent's fundamental values and its security.
He added that in order to survive this "dark hour," Europe needed to remain strong and determined. "We must once again become... as brave and as strong as the Polish soldiers who fought 80 years ago on your soil," Tusk said, referring to the Polish forces that contributed to the liberation of the Netherlands during World War Two.
"We owe it to them and to future generations," he said.
Later, following his meeting with his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof, Tusk told a press conference that they had talked about "how important it is to maintain maximum, solidarity-based mobilisation of the entire West against threats that have ceased to be abstract threats, which have unfortunately become real threats again."
He argued that we now live in a time and place where the issue of defence, military efficiency and cooperation with allies has taken on a key role, just like 80 years ago.
"Security is at the centre of our attention. Not only the Polish presidency but in fact all our meetings, wherever we are as leaders of European countries, the issue of security, also the efficiency of Europe, competitiveness, all of this is subordinated to broadly understood security." Tusk said.
He also said that he had invited Schoof to Warsaw, where a renewed agreement on security and military cooperation between Poland and the Netherlands is to be signed in July.
"Poland and the Netherlands are countries that are extremely loyal to each other both symbolically and practically. We share almost all of these key points of view when it comes to geopolitical issues," Tusk said. (PAP)
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