Krzysztof Lisek - Jesteśmy dumni z polski

Roundtable seminar
NATO 60 - An Alliance in constant transformation"
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Conference Hall of the Riigikogu

Mr Krzysztof Lisek
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Sejm, Poland

NATO's new member-countries experience

When German bombs began falling on Poland in 1939, NATO did not yet exist, although Poland was in a military alliance with Western powers, USA Great Britain and France. Today, after a gap of some 70 years, we find ourselves in a similar, but also very different, alliance, and in a world that has greatly changed since 1939.

When the communists and Solidarity sat down together at 1989's scarcely believable and unprecedented Round Table talks, the door to freedom began to open very slowly. Any suggestion at that time that the Warsaw Pact might be dissolved verged on the miraculous. Twenty years later, the Soviet bloc belongs to the grim past, democracy and a market economy were established and Poland is an important element of the Euro-Atlantic picture.
 
For Poles, NATO membership was a dream came true, a dream of a close relationship with the Western hemisphere, of the alliance's protective umbrella unfurled over our land. It was also a willingness to take on responsibilities and a role that result from the geopolitical location as well as the size and strength of the Polish state.

Poles were aware of the advantages of NATO membership, but both we and our allies also know what Poland is contributing to the alliance. If we see NATO as a security zone that reaches out even beyond its boundaries, then the crucial role of Poland  the largest and strongest country of the regions obvious. We prepared ourselves for it from the moment we regained our freedom. Poland immediately proved its ability to meet this challenge by creating democratic institutions, a civic society and market economy. In 1999 Poland had also established good relations with all its neighbors and was the first country in the world to recognize an independent Ukraine.

Admission to NATO was one of the priorities of Poland’s foreign and security policy in the 1990s. Our participation in “Partnership for Peace” program was a significant element of preparations for membership. We have been participating in the program since 1994. Poland achieved its strategic target on 12 March 1999. Membership in NATO made our engagement in its activity more dynamic and enabled us wider integration with its structures.

Membership in NATO is still the main pillar of Poland’s security policy. Acting according to Article 5 of Washington Treaty, the Alliance is a warranty of security for our country. It also makes reacting to new threats more and more possible. It concerns terrorism, proliferation of weapon of mass destruction and threats connected with energetic security.

But the age of miracles is gone. The chapter of the Great War and great isolation is shut. Poland's return to the Western world is fact. Now we must face an era of normality, with all its splendors and miseries, as well as new challenges and responsibilities.

Thinking about the NATO role in the world, is thinking about power. At the end of the Warsaw Pact and Cold War NATO became the world’s superpower.  Today’s world is interdependent and interconnected. In the new era of globalization individual nations are already powerless to cope with a growing range of  problems. Giving more power and authority to international organizations like NATO is very important for contemporary world.

Today, transatlantic and transeuropean relations within the NATO are neither poor nor excellent. We must concentrate on renew these relations and make them fit for the future. Cooperation, not conflict, will come to be accepted as the basis for international and especially transatlantic and transeuropean relations. Even where there are differences between us, we are learning how best to talk through them. The all members of NATO shall consider the importance of defending and sharing the same values.

For us, the NATO is the partner with whom we have the closest and most wide-ranging relations. In my opinion the relations within the NATO are the most intense in the world, both at political and economic level. As global partner, the NATO must take the lead in building a prosperous and safe multi-polar world and in promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The NATO is still based on common economic, political and security interests, as well as a common perception of responsibilities and needs at world level. This also entails NATO common interests in confronting global challenges such as threats to security and stability, proliferation of weapons, financial crisis and unemployment, climate and environmental degradation, drugs, crime and terrorism.
NATO must concentrate together on relations with the Muslim world, Iran and future relations with China and Russia, too.

The NATO is exploring ways to develop cooperation. The creation of a new transatlantic and global security model is one of NATO priorities. NATO must reach a new global security agreement as quickly as possible. One is true, the NATO is entering a period of political change.

I would like to comment new role of the US in the NATO after President Obama election.  It is a truth - there is no arms race between Europe and the US and there are no direct threats to the EU territory. However, a capability to act does not only imply war fighting alone. European military capabilities are more designed for projecting low-intensity power, peacekeeping, humanitarian action, disaster relief and post-conflict reconstruction rather than the rapid deployment of large combat forces over long distances. There should not be a clear-cut division of labor, where the Europeans do the peace and the Americans do the war. The US forces should not be reduced to war fighting alone, but need also to be capable of carrying out humanitarian, rescue and peacekeeping operations.

In my opinion NATO, as an important tie between many European countries and the US and a guarantor of European security, should develop its potential as a transatlantic forum for political debate in a true partnership of equals.

We in Poland simply don't believe that Europe without the United States is safe. Europe and North America are one strategic space. 'Are you for America or Europe?' It's like choosing your mother or your father. Therefore Poland and the United States have signed a preliminary deal to place part of a U.S. ballistic missile defense system in Poland. It is an important step in our efforts to protect Europe and the United States against longer-range ballistic missiles launched from the Middle East.  It doesn’t mean that we want to be a Trojan horse for the US in Europe. We are a European country, and we will show our solidarity and the responsibility for collective security in Europe. Poland's good and friendly relations with the United States are not in contradiction with our excellent relations with the European Union and its member states.

I think that we need the strong NATO. And NATO needs and wants a strong Europe. But there is one thing we must never forget: A Europe should not and cannot compete with the NATO. I know that Poland shares this position. We must work together to encourage the European Union to become a strong anchor for the transatlantic partnership. The challenges of the future affect the NATO and Europe equally, and we will be able to meet them only with close and trusting cooperation.


Stabilisation activities carried out in different regions of the world show the role of the Alliance in international security. Poland participates in all the most important NATO operations: in Afghanistan (ISAF), Kosovo (KFOR), Iraq (training mission NTM-I) and in the Mediterranean Sea (Active Endeavour).  At the moment engagement in Afghanistan is a priority for Poland. 1200 soldiers are deployed there. It is the first NATO operation of this kind. It requires performing various military and civilian tasks, aiming at ensuring security and stability as well as gradual reconstruction of the country. That is why it is very important for NATO’s role in the future.

Poland participates in many transformation initiatives such as NATO Response Force (NRF), concerning transport aircraft C-17 or special forces. In Bydgoszcz there is Joint Forces Training Centre, an important element of NATO command structure. We also strive for locating the main operational base of Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system in Powidz near Poznań.

Finally, Poland is also strong supporter of the ‘open door policy’. Poland in is expected to support granting MAP to Georgia and Ukraine and presenting to Tbilisi and Kyiv clear perspectives of NATO membership.
There are obvious specific decisions to be taken: who is eligible to be invited to join the Alliance? Whatever the final outcome of political debates on that issue will be, there are four rules that have to be observed:
•    every nation wishing to join the Alliance deserves careful consideration and a clear answer to its aspirations, on the assumption that NATO is a performance based organization;
•    no one from outside NATO should have any kind of a veto right on enlargement;
•    a balance should be kept between enlargement and the effective functioning of the Alliance. Neither should enlargement adversely affect the Alliance’s contribution to the defense and security of its members, nor should the statutory roles and functions of NATO preclude a possibility of extending their benefits to other nations. Enlargement has to be compatible with transformation, understood as normal functioning combined with constant refinement of tools and instruments of action;
•    some elements of political (informal) “parallelism” between NATO and EU enlargement should be taken into consideration. Guided by these rules the NATO Summit has to determine its attitude towards the current membership aspirations expressed by the three Balkan States, Ukraine and Georgia and consider appropriate reaction to unfounded Russian objections.

Poland does not have separate, different interests from their allies, although we may accentuate our expectations in a slightly different manner.
First of all, desiring to strengthen security in an increasingly uncertain world, Poland would be particularly interested in strengthening the classical functions of the Alliance (collective defense), deepening transatlantic
ties and reconciling European and American views regarding the security of the continent.

Poland is seeking some common reassurances vis-à-vis increased Russian post-imperial policies and implications of Moscow’s drive towards multi-polarism, which in the region is understood as an ambition to return to the policy of spheres of influence.

The biggest political challenge seems to be making NATO a “transatlantic co-ordinator” between Europe and North America in the field of security and defense through a number of concrete messages concerning new
challenges and threats to security, operations and missions, enlargement and partnerships. This requires also an initiation of a new strategic concept to narrow the gap between the conceptual framework and practice.
Poland having in mind various diverging approaches, does not wish to see NATO weakened. A two-tier alliance, for those who are ready to carry the full burden of NATO objectives and missions and others who think – for whatever reason – that member states can afford a NATO à la carte, is not an option.
Poland's vision of a safe Europe is based on two fundaments: NATO and the European Union, as well as on harmonious cooperation with countries remaining outside these structures. With roots in the past, the NATO of the 21st century will meet the demands of the future.