The head of the Ministry of National Defense took part on November 19^th in Brussels in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of defense and foreign affairs ministers of the European Union countries on the subject of the global EU security strategy. During the session, the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union made decisions on the launch of 17 new PESCO projects, of which Poland is involved in 10. Ministers also discussed the rules for the participation of third countries in these projects.

According to Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, PESCO enables EU member states to cooperate more closely in the field of security and defense, joint development of defense potential, investing in the same projects and increasing the participation and operational readiness of the armed forces of EU countries.

The minister said that the North Atlantic Alliance is of fundamental importance in the Polish assessment:

- Separate structures can not create competitive to NATO solutions, because the North Atlantic Alliance has a defensive capability, not the European Union. The European Union has not been established to create a common defense system. NATO was appointed for this - he stressed and assessed that it is claimed by the majority of the defense ministers.

- I emphasized that we want the European system to be compatible with the NATO system, that the basic formula of providing defense capabilities to the states forming the EU is the North Atlantic Alliance, and therefore all programs that are proposed by the EU should complement to what is implemented within the North Atlantic Alliance - said the minister after the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

The head of the Ministry of Defense informed that Poland had decided to participate in the subsequent PESCO projects. According to the minister, PESCO should be open to non-EU countries:

- I mean mainly the United States, Norway, but also Great Britain after leaving the European Union - he said.

Minister Mariusz Błaszczak added that he also talked about the tank joint program:

- We want this program to be covered by the PESCO formula. This is a program that Germany and France have begun. During the visit of the Minister of National Defense of Germany in Poland, we also discussed this topic. From the German side there is full openness here. Tomorrow I will talk with the Minister of National Defense of the French Republic. I will pay attention to this - emphasized the head of the Defense Ministry.

Other issues discussed on Monday in Brussels included military mobility and the development of EU military planning and command structures.

After the meeting of the council, the head of the Ministry of National Defense participated in the ceremony on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence, organized by the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union. Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, addressing the gathered Polish and foreign guests, said:

- It was an extraordinary time when Poland broke into independence one hundred years ago. Today Poland is a free country. (...) We want Poland to be in the European Union, be strong and let the union be strong, but strong with freedoms and rights that constitute the freedom of individual states forming the community of the European Union.

The head of the Defense Ministry emphasized the special attitude of Poles to the EU community:

- We speak directly what our goals are and what we want to achieve. We give speed to this community. May it be that in one hundred years our successors, next generations will say that they are proud that they are Poles and that it is worth being a Pole.