WEBVTT 00:08.614 --> 00:10.230 (announcer speaks in foreign language) 00:10.230 --> 00:11.063 - [Interpreter] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, 00:11.063 --> 00:12.966 a very warm welcome to the press conference 00:12.966 --> 00:14.549 of the President of the Republic of Poland, 00:14.549 --> 00:19.040 Mr. Andrzej Duda and NATO Secretary General, 00:19.040 --> 00:20.393 Mr. Jens Stoltenberg. 00:22.250 --> 00:24.673 First there will be statements given 00:24.673 --> 00:28.031 and first, I'll give the floor to the President of Poland. 00:28.031 --> 00:30.703 Distinguished Mr. Secretary General, 00:30.703 --> 00:33.538 distinguished Ministers, and distinguished 00:33.538 --> 00:35.513 ladies and gentlemen. 00:35.513 --> 00:38.823 I'm delighted and it is with great pleasure 00:38.823 --> 00:42.169 that I welcomed Mr. Secretary General of NATO 00:42.169 --> 00:44.437 Mr. Jens Stoltenberg to Warsaw. 00:45.836 --> 00:50.836 This week, which we refer to as NATO week. 00:50.997 --> 00:52.693 NATO week in Poland. 00:53.678 --> 00:57.884 Indeed, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary 00:57.884 --> 01:00.384 of Poland's accession to NATO. 01:01.350 --> 01:03.580 Together with the Minister of Defense, 01:03.580 --> 01:06.341 we paid a visit to Zagan, this week, 01:06.341 --> 01:09.794 but also paid a visit to Orzysz, where we met with 01:09.794 --> 01:12.959 soldiers of the alliance, polish soldiers, but not only, 01:12.959 --> 01:17.851 also US, Croatian, Romanian and British troops, 01:17.851 --> 01:21.602 all those who are serving in Poland as part of NATO mission. 01:21.602 --> 01:24.435 And today, we are really delighted 01:25.471 --> 01:27.432 to be able to host Secretary General 01:27.432 --> 01:32.206 whose presence stresses in such a strong way the fact 01:32.206 --> 01:36.040 of our membership in NATO for 20 years now. 01:36.040 --> 01:39.678 Mr. Secretary General laughed saying to me 01:39.678 --> 01:42.261 that this is our third meeting this year 01:42.261 --> 01:44.781 because previously we met in Davos and then one week ago 01:44.781 --> 01:48.361 we met in Kosice and today we are hosting 01:48.361 --> 01:50.902 Mr. Secretary General here in Warsaw. 01:50.902 --> 01:54.345 Perhaps we will have 12 meetings this year 01:54.345 --> 01:56.610 which means one meeting per month. 01:56.610 --> 01:59.209 I'm happy because this demonstrates 01:59.209 --> 02:01.699 how active Mr. Secretary General is 02:01.699 --> 02:04.768 and how active our functioning is 02:04.768 --> 02:06.800 within the North Atlantic Alliance 02:06.800 --> 02:08.968 and the level of national authorities 02:08.968 --> 02:11.255 and this is a reason for joy, that's for sure. 02:11.255 --> 02:14.628 If somebody is asking me whether NATO functions or not, 02:14.628 --> 02:16.070 whether NATO is alive or not, 02:16.070 --> 02:18.025 please just look at the calendar of visits, 02:18.025 --> 02:19.900 please look how frequent they are, 02:19.900 --> 02:22.947 please look at the activity of Mr. Secretary General, 02:22.947 --> 02:27.047 and please meet with the soldiers of the alliance, 02:27.047 --> 02:29.393 who are fulfilling their missions 02:29.393 --> 02:34.393 as part of the allied assistance and allied presence. 02:36.120 --> 02:37.763 So if you just look at these facts 02:37.763 --> 02:41.863 you can see that NATO is active and NATO is functioning, 02:41.863 --> 02:43.686 that it is fulfilling its tasks. 02:43.686 --> 02:46.040 By the way, we had an opportunity to see that 02:46.040 --> 02:48.937 this week, just yesterday, at the military training area 02:48.937 --> 02:52.600 in Orzysz we were able to follow the cooperation 02:52.600 --> 02:55.900 of polish, US soldiers, Croatian, Romanian soldiers, 02:55.900 --> 02:58.050 as well as British soldiers. 02:58.050 --> 03:01.077 We were able to see how well they cooperate with each other, 03:01.077 --> 03:02.913 how perfectly they are functioning 03:02.913 --> 03:05.082 as part of the NATO cooperation, 03:05.082 --> 03:07.841 how perfectly well they are fulfilling 03:07.841 --> 03:10.645 all the exercises they're tasked with. 03:10.645 --> 03:12.910 So, ladies and gentlemen, this demonstrates how important 03:12.910 --> 03:15.510 the cooperation is, this demonstrates that, this proves 03:15.510 --> 03:18.680 that the exercise should take place more frequently. 03:18.680 --> 03:22.163 We discussed the necessity to make NATO forces mobile, 03:23.052 --> 03:26.761 we are saying the same about the polish troops. 03:26.761 --> 03:29.158 Today we also had a briefing of the leadership 03:29.158 --> 03:32.100 of the Ministry of Defense and Polish Armed Forces. 03:32.100 --> 03:35.202 Also during that briefing we said that it is necessary 03:35.202 --> 03:38.831 to get our armed forces out of this sphere of comfort 03:38.831 --> 03:41.920 and move the soldiers so that they move around, 03:41.920 --> 03:44.910 so that they are mobile, to put it in the natural. 03:44.910 --> 03:48.160 These are extremely important issues here inside Poland 03:48.160 --> 03:50.551 when it comes to our armed forces 03:50.551 --> 03:51.686 and when it comes to the functioning 03:51.686 --> 03:53.820 of the North Atlantic Alliance and this among others 03:53.820 --> 03:56.050 is a topic of my discussion just a moment ago 03:56.050 --> 03:58.474 with Mr. Secretary General because this is something 03:58.474 --> 04:03.094 to which we refer to as reinforcement of capabilities, 04:03.094 --> 04:05.594 broadening of capabilities, ensuring capabilities. 04:06.750 --> 04:11.190 That is NATO is able to respond to the challenges 04:12.060 --> 04:14.266 with which it is faced currently. 04:14.266 --> 04:16.240 It is important also to be able to predict 04:16.240 --> 04:20.384 what happens in the future and to protect against dangers. 04:20.384 --> 04:22.449 Therefore we discussed with Mr. Secretary General 04:22.449 --> 04:24.586 also the situation in the Black Sea 04:24.586 --> 04:27.803 and also what kind of actions NATO can undertake. 04:27.803 --> 04:31.243 We also talked about the situation in Syria 04:31.243 --> 04:33.897 or in the Middle East and we talked also, 04:33.897 --> 04:35.948 ladies and gentlemen, about the situation here 04:35.948 --> 04:38.493 in the Baltic Sea region. 04:38.493 --> 04:43.493 We also discussed what we can expect from the side of Russia 04:45.107 --> 04:48.058 we discussed cooperation with the main partners. 04:48.058 --> 04:49.700 I'm thinking here first and foremost 04:49.700 --> 04:52.514 about the Black Sea region, about Georgia, Moldova 04:52.514 --> 04:56.311 and of course how we can support Ukraine 04:56.311 --> 04:59.240 in the difficult position in which it is right now. 04:59.240 --> 05:02.994 So in other words how to respond to those challenges 05:02.994 --> 05:06.488 which are emerging in front of our eyes. 05:06.488 --> 05:08.003 We assured Mr. Secretary General 05:08.003 --> 05:10.183 that we are fulfilling our commitments, 05:10.183 --> 05:11.105 at the same time I stressed 05:11.105 --> 05:13.740 that Poland is increasing its presence in Afghanistan. 05:13.740 --> 05:17.600 We are seeing also other regions where NATO is active 05:17.600 --> 05:20.755 not only our part of Europe, we are increasing our presence 05:20.755 --> 05:24.952 in Afghanistan from 350 to 400 troops. 05:24.952 --> 05:27.942 Ladies and gentlemen, we are present and we are also active 05:27.942 --> 05:30.659 in the air policing mission guarding the airspace 05:30.659 --> 05:33.971 over the Baltic states, we are fulfilling other tasks 05:33.971 --> 05:37.074 to which we are committed, let me also remind you that 05:37.074 --> 05:38.365 our soldiers are present as part 05:38.365 --> 05:40.360 of the Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia, 05:40.360 --> 05:41.530 their presence is part of tailored forward presence 05:44.089 --> 05:46.917 in Romania and this precisely is the fulfillment 05:48.692 --> 05:50.859 of our allied commitments. 05:54.165 --> 05:59.165 This is very important and I'm hoping that this is noticed 05:59.263 --> 06:03.327 I also assured Mr. Secretary General that we are fulfilling 06:03.327 --> 06:07.077 our announcements regarding defense spending. 06:09.228 --> 06:11.661 As you know, ladies and gentlemen, we are also 06:11.661 --> 06:14.320 actively modernizing the Polish Armed Forces. 06:14.320 --> 06:16.294 We talked about it at length together 06:16.294 --> 06:18.007 with the Minister of Defense, but first and foremost 06:18.007 --> 06:21.857 we are increasing our defense spending in general 06:21.857 --> 06:23.560 and we are reinforcing the potential 06:23.560 --> 06:25.049 of the Polish Armed Forces. 06:25.049 --> 06:26.740 As I informed Mr. Secretary General 06:26.740 --> 06:30.610 and as we repeatedly stressed, we adopted a law 06:30.610 --> 06:34.004 which obliges us to increase our defense spending 06:34.004 --> 06:34.837 to the level of 2.5% by 2030. 06:37.265 --> 06:39.520 Mr. Secretary General observed that our GDP is growing 06:39.520 --> 06:40.930 in a very dynamic ways and said 06:40.930 --> 06:44.663 "I'm pleased that you are spending a lot and that 06:44.663 --> 06:48.534 "this building of defense capabilities in Poland is real" 06:48.534 --> 06:49.945 Thank you very much for this evaluation, 06:49.945 --> 06:50.787 Mr. Secretary General, 06:50.787 --> 06:52.899 yes indeed we are trying to make sure that 06:52.899 --> 06:55.749 the Polish Armed Forces are best equipped that they function 06:55.749 --> 06:57.424 in a smooth and seamless way, 06:57.424 --> 06:59.350 and you can see that this development is happening, 06:59.350 --> 07:02.560 we are buying modern equipment, modern armament. 07:02.560 --> 07:05.544 I hope that our economic situation is good enough 07:05.544 --> 07:08.080 and continues to be good enough to allow us 07:08.080 --> 07:09.448 to implement those plans. 07:09.448 --> 07:13.020 Mr. Secretary General, I'm, we are very pleased indeed 07:13.020 --> 07:16.248 with your presence, we thank you very much for it, 07:16.248 --> 07:21.030 thank you that our 20th anniversary as NATO members 07:21.030 --> 07:24.570 is highlighted also through the presence of the one 07:24.570 --> 07:28.610 who heads NATO today and who is responsible for the smooth 07:28.610 --> 07:31.242 cooperation, we are grateful for that and once again 07:31.242 --> 07:34.300 a very very warm welcome to you, Mr. Secretary General. 07:34.300 --> 07:35.655 Welcome to Warsaw. 07:35.655 --> 07:36.735 Thank you for that Mr. President, 07:36.735 --> 07:39.520 and now over to Mr. Secretary General. 07:39.520 --> 07:42.040 - President Duda Andrzej, it's really great 07:42.040 --> 07:44.972 to be back in Poland to meet with you and you just said 07:44.972 --> 07:48.380 this is the third time we meet this year 07:48.380 --> 07:51.350 and I really appreciate this opportunity to once again 07:51.350 --> 07:55.080 address some of the most demanding security challenges 07:55.080 --> 07:57.390 we all are faced with. 07:57.390 --> 08:01.840 2019 is the year where we celebrate the 70th anniversary 08:01.840 --> 08:05.350 of the establishment of NATO but also the year 08:05.350 --> 08:08.324 where we celebrate that it's 20 years since 08:08.324 --> 08:11.530 Poland joined the alliance. 08:11.530 --> 08:14.950 And over the past two decades Poland has shown, 08:14.950 --> 08:18.390 again and again, your strong commitment 08:18.390 --> 08:23.390 to our transatlantic bond and to our NATO alliance. 08:23.920 --> 08:26.950 You do that in many different ways, by contributing 08:26.950 --> 08:30.608 to our shared security and to our collective defense. 08:30.608 --> 08:35.608 By having Polish troops part of our 08:35.790 --> 08:38.350 Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia. 08:38.350 --> 08:40.780 And you're also participating and contributing 08:40.780 --> 08:45.170 to NATO's tailored forward presence in Romania. 08:45.170 --> 08:50.170 And then, polish planes helps to keep the skies safe 08:52.386 --> 08:57.386 because you are part of the NATO air policing over Lithuania 08:59.920 --> 09:03.950 And then Poland also supports NATO partners 09:03.950 --> 09:05.910 in many different ways. 09:05.910 --> 09:08.870 You contribute to NATO missions and operations, 09:08.870 --> 09:11.190 polish troops serve in Afghanistan, 09:11.190 --> 09:13.610 helping to fight terrorism. 09:13.610 --> 09:16.760 And Poland is also contributing with trainers 09:16.760 --> 09:19.420 to our training mission in Iraq. 09:19.420 --> 09:23.490 And you are participating in our presence in Kosovo, 09:23.490 --> 09:27.180 helping to stabilize that region. 09:27.180 --> 09:30.449 So we are extremely grateful for all the contributions 09:30.449 --> 09:34.450 Poland is providing to NATO every day. 09:34.450 --> 09:38.180 At the same time what we have seen over the last two decades 09:38.180 --> 09:43.060 is that also NATO is increasing its presence in Poland. 09:43.060 --> 09:46.860 We have the battlegroup in Poland, 09:46.860 --> 09:48.780 the high-readiness battlegroup, 09:48.780 --> 09:52.700 we have a new US armored brigade, 09:52.700 --> 09:55.560 rotational presence in Poland. 09:55.560 --> 09:59.590 And then we have increased our presence in the Baltic Sea. 09:59.590 --> 10:02.440 And Poland is also hosting one of sites 10:02.440 --> 10:05.563 for NATO's missile defense. 10:06.560 --> 10:10.030 On top of that, we also know that we have more exercises, 10:10.030 --> 10:13.210 proving that we have increased the readiness of forces 10:13.210 --> 10:17.080 so we can quickly reinforce if needed. 10:17.080 --> 10:19.900 And all of this is sending a very strong message 10:19.900 --> 10:24.900 of unity, of commitment and of resolve of all NATO allies, 10:25.970 --> 10:30.970 and that we stand together, we keep the peace 10:31.000 --> 10:32.853 and we protect each other. 10:33.740 --> 10:36.890 I want to thank Poland especially for what you do 10:36.890 --> 10:39.100 when it comes to defense spending. 10:39.100 --> 10:42.051 You are leading by example and you allocate 10:42.051 --> 10:46.150 two percent of GDP to defense 10:46.150 --> 10:49.192 and you are right that I mentioned that this is important 10:49.192 --> 10:53.410 not least because we see that the GDP of Poland is growing, 10:53.410 --> 10:56.280 so you are allocating more and more money 10:56.280 --> 10:59.186 for defense every year. 10:59.186 --> 11:03.270 We also know that in an uncertain world we need to invest 11:03.270 --> 11:06.700 more in defense and the polish investment in defense 11:06.700 --> 11:09.200 is also helping to improve burden sharing 11:09.200 --> 11:11.543 within NATO alliance. 11:13.290 --> 11:15.380 President Duda, we just discussed 11:15.380 --> 11:18.370 some of the current security challenges we are faced with 11:18.370 --> 11:23.370 including the fact that Russia is violating the INF treaty. 11:23.740 --> 11:26.890 And the INF treaty has been a cornerstone 11:26.890 --> 11:29.570 for European security for decades. 11:29.570 --> 11:32.513 Now we see that Russia is deploying new missiles, 11:33.660 --> 11:38.660 SSC-8 missiles which are mobile, hard to detect, 11:40.010 --> 11:44.170 nuclear capable, can reach European cities with little 11:44.170 --> 11:47.870 or no warning time and by doing so they also 11:47.870 --> 11:50.480 reduce the threshold for any potential use 11:50.480 --> 11:53.400 of nuclear weapons in a conflict. 11:53.400 --> 11:57.170 So we continue to call Russia to come back into compliance 11:57.170 --> 11:58.003 with the INF treaty, 11:58.003 --> 12:03.003 to respect this cornerstone treaty for all of us. 12:03.170 --> 12:07.640 But also we need to be prepared and we have started 12:07.640 --> 12:10.760 the planning for the world without the INF treaty 12:10.760 --> 12:13.560 and with more Russian missiles. 12:13.560 --> 12:17.530 It is too early to say the outcome of this process in NATO, 12:17.530 --> 12:21.670 but what I can say is that our response will be measured. 12:21.670 --> 12:25.330 It will be coordinated as a NATO alliance and we don't have 12:25.330 --> 12:28.469 any intentions of deploying new nuclear missiles, 12:28.469 --> 12:31.913 land-based missiles in Europe. 12:32.923 --> 12:37.634 We also discussed Afghanistan, where our troops 12:37.634 --> 12:41.050 have served for many years. 12:41.050 --> 12:44.950 We support the peace efforts. 12:44.950 --> 12:48.000 We are there to create conditions for peace, 12:48.000 --> 12:51.050 to send a clear message to the Taliban 12:51.050 --> 12:53.130 that they will not win on the battlefield, 12:53.130 --> 12:55.470 but they have to sit down at the negotiating table 12:55.470 --> 12:58.900 and reach a political agreement. 12:58.900 --> 13:02.949 For any peace to be sustainable, it will need to be built 13:02.949 --> 13:07.060 on the achievements that we have made in recent years, 13:07.060 --> 13:10.783 including on human rights and the rights of women. 13:12.610 --> 13:15.870 So, Mr President, it is always a great pleasure 13:15.870 --> 13:17.860 to meet with you and it's always a great pleasure 13:17.860 --> 13:22.860 to address common security challenges together with you. 13:23.100 --> 13:26.300 And I am honored and proud to be here together with you 13:26.300 --> 13:29.000 and to mark the 20th anniversary 13:29.000 --> 13:31.420 of Poland joining the NATO alliance. 13:31.420 --> 13:33.761 So once again, thank you so much. 13:33.761 --> 13:34.758 (president speaks in foreign language) 13:34.758 --> 13:37.794 - [Interpreter] Thank you Mr. Secretary General. 13:37.794 --> 13:41.377 (camera shutters clicking) 13:46.366 --> 13:47.980 Thank you ladies and gentlemen 13:47.980 --> 13:49.320 for your participation in the press conference. 13:49.320 --> 13:50.320 Thank you very much.