President calls for new conception of Nato

Poland's president said on Tuesday that a new conception of Nato is needed that takes account of changes wrought by Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Speaking in Bucharest after meeting his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis for consultations ahead of a Thursday Nato summit, Andrzej Duda said: "In the face of what has happened in Ukraine, in the face of unprecedented Russian aggression on that free, independent, sovereign state... for us, and for the whole of Europe, it could be said for the world, a new conception of Nato is needed."

Duda said the two presidents had talked about a new strategic conception for Nato, which is currently being worked out "to take account of the changes that in an obvious way have been wrought by Russia's aggression against Ukraine."

He said he believed that the Nato presence in Poland and Romania should change its profile to be a "defensive permanent presence of North Atlantic Alliance forces on our soil."

The Polish president went on to say that if Belarus joined forces with Russia and attacked Ukraine, it should suffer the same sanctions as Russia, "the main aggressor."

"I believe that Nato and the European Union and all honest countries should set the matter out clearly - if someone joins the aggressor, joins Russia, they should be sanctioned the same as the aggressor," Duda said.

He said Poland and Romania would discuss with their Nato allies further sanctions against Russia, to make them as stringent as possible, as well as diplomatic actions in support of Ukraine "in a material way" in order to bring about and end to the war as quickly as possible.

He said he had discussed with Iohannis the European prospects of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which he said should be "very clearly outlined," adding that they should receive EU candidate status in a matter of weeks and should receive aid, including funds to rebuild Ukraine after the war.

He also said the situations in Ukraine and Georgia should be on the agenda of Thursday's Nato summit, which will be held in Brussels with the participation of US President Joe Biden.

Klaus Iohannis said after meeting Duda that the two countries wanted Nato's main task to be confirmed, namely collective defence, and that consolidation of the alliance's eastern flank was needed urgently.

Iohannis said the two heads of state had also decided to organise a summit of the Bucharest Nine, a grouping of the nine countries making up Nato's eastern flank. He added that he and Duda had agreed to intensify bilateral cooperation in the security sphere.

"We urgently need a significant consolidation of the eastern flank, a forward presence, united and strengthened," Iohannis told a joint press conference with Duda. He added that an increased alliance presence was needed in Romania and the Black Sea region. "An important example in that respect is the creation of a Nato rapid response force in Romania," he said.

He also said Biden's visit to Europe and his participation in the Nato summit sent a strong signal of the alliance's unity and solidarity.