Unity, solidarity most important in Nato, says president

Poland's president said on Wednesday that the two things he most wanted to see at the Nato summit in Madrid were unity and solidarity within the alliance.

A Nato summit started on Tuesday in Madrid and will run until Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Andrzej Duda told journalists he hoped two principle assumptions would be fulfilled. "Firstly unity, unity and once again unity. And secondly solidarity, because that is the most important thing within the North Atlantic Alliance," he said.

The president went on to say that Nato standing together and acting collectively in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine had been a great achievement, thanks to which Ukraine was receiving aid. "Ukraine is still enduring against the power, at least militarily, that Russia is," he said.

Duda put emphasis on Nato's new strategic concept, in which he said the "conceptual apparatus has fundamentally changed."

"Russia has ceased to be a Nato partner, which, frankly speaking, should have happened long ago, but today it really is without a doubt the greatest threat to Nato countries, especially those on the eastern flank," he said.

Duda added that Russia was a plain threat to the Baltic states and that Poland had also heard various threatening statements, which he said he hoped would be reflected in the summit's decisions.

He said Wednesday's talks would concern strengthening security as well as relations with China and the problem of a potential food crises caused by Russia.