Baltic States and Poland will work on presence of NATO soldiers in the region - Duda

  • 2023-02-01
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - Poland and the Baltic states will work to increase the number of NATO soldiers in the region, as this is the way to deter a potential aggressor, Polish President Andrzej Duda said today after a meeting with Latvian President Egils Levits in Riga.

Duda emphasized that strengthening the military capacity of the Baltic countries and Poland, as well as NATO's presence in the region, is not aimed at aggression, but only at defense and deterring a potential aggressor.

''We need to be able to not only to defend ourselves, but also be able to prevent any potential aggression at all," said Duda, adding that parallel to strengthening the military capacity of NATO countries, support for Ukraine will not run out.

Levits also emphasized that Western aid to Ukraine has only been increasing since February 24 of last year, and it does not look like the countries are ready to change this curve.

Furthermore, Duda and Levits agreed that it is important not only to strengthen the countries' military capacity, but also to overcome the economic crisis that began after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Duda expressed the opinion that in the foreseeable future he would like to see a developed agreement that could provide Ukraine with security guarantees. Likewise, Poland and other countries are actively working to ensure that Ukraine joins the European Union as soon as possible, because the Ukrainian society has clearly indicated that it does not want to associate itself with the East, but with the West.