British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Poland on Friday to discuss border issues and Warsaw’s military support.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Warsaw to discuss co-operation with NATO and support for Ukraine, among other things.
During the meeting, the Polish Prime Minister presented to his British counterpart the priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The prime ministers also discussed mutual relations, migration and international security issues, highlighting defence co-operation and continued support for Ukraine.
At the press conference, they announced their intention to sign a bilateral security and defence co-operation agreement this year and to strengthen co-operation in the Baltic and North Seas.
The UK and Poland have been working together for many years to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. They are also deepening defence industrial co-operation through the Miecznik programme to build three AH140PL multi-purpose frigates for the Polish Navy and the Narew air defence system development programme.
The latter project involves the British arm of defence company MBDA and Poland’s state defence concern PGZ and will provide Warsaw with more than a thousand anti-aircraft missiles to protect its territory and “strengthen the overall security of Europe.”
Starmer noted that thanks to the new agreement, Poland and the UK will be able to deepen ties in the military field, stressing that London has signed £8 billion worth of defence deals with Warsaw in the past three years alone. Separately, the British prime minister thanked his counterpart for supporting Kyiv. Starmer concluded:
“As Europe’s two largest military powers, our troops serve together, guarding the eastern flank. We share an unbreakable commitment to NATO and an unbreakable commitment to Ukraine.”
Tusk, in turn, emphasised that the meeting focused on security issues. The Polish PM said:
“Britain and we have the same views on the situation in Ukraine and what concerns its support. We promised that we will co-operate closely.”
Tusk also presented Starmer with the priorities of his country’s presidency of the European Council, which Poland took over from Hungary on January 1. Warsaw, being one of the main supporters of supporting Kyiv, plans to focus on security issues.
At the same time, Poland considers deepening co-operation with NATO and non-EU partners, primarily the US and the UK, to be one of the goals of its presidency. Tusk also said that he had asked the European Council to hold an informal summit with the participation of the British prime minister.
