On Thursday, November the 18th, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Poland and the United Kingdom conducted bilateral consultations on the further development of defence cooperation, with particular emphasis on the armaments aspects. As a result of the consultation was signed the "Statement of Intent" on cooperation in the field of development of the capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces in the field of air defence under the NAREW program.

"This declaration of intent is only one stage in our very close cooperation. Thank you for the fact that we can count on Great Britain, for Great Britain’s commitment to the challenges that lie ahead, and such a challenge is undoubtedly the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border”-  said Mariusz Błaszczak, at a press conference after the meeting with Ben Wallace, the UK Secretary of State Defence. 

The head of the Ministry of National Defence thanked the British side for cooperation. He expressed his hope that a company of British engineering troops would start service in Poland with Polish troops by the end of the month. Its task will be, among other things, to repair the temporary fence on the Polish-Belarusian border and maintenance and unblocking of road connections.

“I would like to highlighted at the same time that our border is sealed, is tight and will also remain so. And no one who wants to cross this border in illegal way will be able to do that despite of the pressure of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime ,despite of his hybrid actions being carried out, Poland will remain secure. And I would like thank  for the fact that we can defend this border together with British troops” – said Minister Błaszczak.

During the meeting was signed a declaration to cooperate.

"I am also very pleased with the signed declaration, which opens the way to the implementation of the" Narew "program, i.e. the anti-aircraft defence program using CAMM missiles. The Armament Inspectorate has just recommended that such an offer, which was submitted by Great Britain, should be considered first. I hope that further negotiations related to the signing of license agreements and executive agreements will progress quickly" - Minister M. Błaszczak informed during the meeting.

The minister noted that as part of the Polish-British armaments cooperation, the Armament Inspectorate recommended the British CAMM  offer as the first-choice missiles in the field of air defence under the "Narew" program.

"I am glad that I can be here and to see this close cooperation materializing. (...)Because  there is no mistake what is happening on Belarus border. This is a deliberate and conscious attempt to destabilize not only Poland but some of other neighbouring countries like Latvia etc. to make sure that Europe is weaker. The best response to that is we stand shoulder to shoulder, not only within NATO, but also as good friends and partners” – said the UK Secretary of State  Defence Ben Wallace.

During the meeting in Bemowo Piskie, the ministers visited the soldiers of the 15th Mechanized Brigade and soldiers from the USA, Great Britain, Romania and Croatia who are stationed in Poland as part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group.

GALLERY >>> British engineering troops will support Polish soldiers on the border