Poland and France finalise treaty on mutual security guarantees – Tusk
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron that a treaty on mutual security guarantees between Poland and France was being finalised.
On Thursday, Tusk attended a summit of the so-called "coalition of the willing," a group of 27 mostly European countries which have agreed to continue efforts to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Held in the French capital, the get-together was devoted to security guarantees for Kyiv.
Following the event, Tusk told a press conference that he had met face-to-face with Macron to talk about bilateral relations between Poland and France, among other topics.
"We are slowly finalising the treaty between Poland and France. I hope that we will be ready to sign it soon," he said.
Without revealing the details of the deal he said that "it could be a turning point in terms of mutual security guarantees."
"Our Polish position is accepted in its entirety, as part of this European and NATO vision of peace and security," he added.
During his visit to Paris in early January, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski confirmed that work on the Poland-France cooperation treaty will be finalised in the coming months. He said at the time that the new treaty would constitute a significant impulse for Polish-French relations.
"This would also be another step towards making real what we call security guarantees for Europe, for Poland," Sikorski said at that time.
Tusk also said that Macron had told him "face to face" that aiding Ukraine, including through stabilisation forces, must not in any way weaken the defence capabilities of the eastern flank of NATO and the EU.
"Poland will be very efficiently supporting all activities aimed at peace... first of all when we can effectively defend our border and the whole eastern border of NATO and the EU," Tusk said. "Everyone has finally understood that."
Macron said at a press conference after the meeting that currently there was no unanimity on sending international forces to Ukraine to monitor a potential truce, as proposed by France and Great Britain.
Tusk also said all participants shared the same view towards the Russian aggression against its neighbour and the necessity to help Ukraine.
Europe shares the same stance towards "the necessary effort to maintain the best possible relations with the United States, even if the circumstances are not always favourable," Tusk went on to say.
Tusk also said that he had highlighted the need to look for methods to continue a joint European policy towards Russia despite opposition from Hungary, referring to Budapest's frequent refusals to vote in favour of sanctions on Moscow.
Apart from leaders representing EU countries, the meeting was also attended by leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Norway and Ukraine as well as officials from NATO and the EU. (PAP)
mmr/jd/mf/ ał/
