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Poland - European Union

20.01.2022

POLAND'S COMMITMENT IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY - MILITARY DIMENSION

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General information


Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004. Commitment in the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is - along with NATO membership and cooperation with key partners - one of the main pillars of Polish security policy.
The CSDP is an integral part of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy. It assumes the development of civil and military capabilities of the EU and its member states in order to enable the European Union to effectively and comprehensively manage external crises. Cooperation under the CSDP allows us to react to threats, in coherence with actions taken under other EU policies. Poland is in favour of increasing the importance of the European Union in the world and for strengthening the CSDP. We find it is a necessary complement to the activities conducted within NATO.
Poland is actively involved in military activities under the CSDP. We participate in the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation and other initiatives in the area of defence capability development, we allocate forces to Battle Groups and participate in EU operations.


Permanent Structured Cooperation in the EU


Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is a treaty instrument under which some Member States (in fact: 25 out of 27) have assumed additional defence obligations and tightened defence cooperation. Decisions on the launch of PESCO, the inclusion of more Member States into it, and the exclusion of a Member State that fails to meet its obligations are taken by a qualified majority. The remaining decisions, including those concerning the launch and management of new projects, are made unanimously.
The practical expression of the functioning of PESCO are projects for the development of defence capabilities of the participating states. By November 2021, 60 projects were initiated, including industrial cooperation, training, doctrines and the sharing of resources owned by Member States. Member States participating in a given project are fully responsible for its financing and management (one can also be an observer and not participate in its financing, but then they do not have the right to vote on the directions of its development).
Poland is a participant in 13 PESCO projects and an observer in 17 more. Among the 13 projects in which Poland participates is also the project of the Medical Training Centre for Special Forces (SMTC), initiated by the decision of the EU Council of November 2019, of which Poland is the coordinator. Apart from Poland, Hungary is a participant in the project, and the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Ireland and Slovakia have observer status in it.


Other PESCO projects with the participation of Poland as a participant are:


1. Military Mobility (coordinator: The Netherlands);
2. European Secure Software defined Radio - ESSOR (coordinator: France);
3. Network of Logistic Hubs in Europe and Support to Operations (coordinator: Germany);
4. Maritime Semi-Autonomous Mine Counter Measures - MAS MCM (coordinator: Belgium);
5. Harbour and Maritime Surveillance and Protection - HARMSPRO (coordinator: Italy);
6. Rapid Response Teams and Mutual Assistance in Cyber Security (coordinator: Lithuania);
7. EU Radionavigation Solution - EURAS (coordinator: France);
8. Integrated Unmanned Ground Systems - IUGS (coordinator: Estonia);
9. Integrated European Joint Training and Simulation Centre - EUROSIM (coordinator: Hungary);
10. European Medical Command (coordinator: Germany),
11. EU Collaborative Warfare Capabilities - ECoWAR (coordinator: France),
12. Defence of Space Assets - DoSA (coordinator: France)

Development of defence capabilities in the EU


Poland also actively participates in other works aimed at developing the EU's military crisis response capabilities. We participate in the work of the European Defence Agency (EDA), aimed at harmonizing the development of defence capabilities of the member states and improving the efficiency of joint use of resources for the purposes of conducting operations. We conduct multinational research projects with the participation of Polish scientific and industrial entities. Our participation in the development of standards and requirements facilitates their implementation in national projects and contributes to increasing interoperability.


Participation in the EU Battle Groups


Poland is actively involved in the creation of Battle Groups - rapid response units, enabling the EU to take immediate action in crisis situations outside its borders. In the first half of 2010, Poland played the role of the framework state of the Combat Group created jointly with Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia and Latvia, responsible for the organization of the command of the forces and the group's combat element. In the first half of 2013, the Weimar Combat Group, formed by the forces of Poland, France and Germany, was on duty. As in the case of the previous Group, Poland was responsible for coordinating its preparation and operation. In 2016 and 2019, the Visegrad Combat Group was put on duty with the participation of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, as well as Ukraine in 2016 and Croatia in 2019.
In both these groups, Poland played the role of framework state, deploying most of the forces and an Operations Command based on the Land Operations Centre - Land Component Command in Krakow.


Commitment to EU military operations


Polish soldiers took part in an operation of the European Union for the first time before Poland's accession to the EU: in 2003, as part of the EUFOR Concordia operation in Macedonia. We continue our support for the security of the Balkans: since 2004, we have participated in the military operation EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which replaced the activities of the NATO SFOR mission. Our operational involvement is not limited only to regions geographically close to Poland. In 2015-2020, Poland participated in the EU naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea EUNAVFOR MED SOPHIA, the main task of which was to combat criminal organizations transferring illegal migrants to Europe. As of April 1, 2020, we have continued this commitment as part of the new EU operation EUNAVFOR MED. IRINI, which will focus more on enforcing the arms embargo on Libya. In addition, we are delegating officers to EUNAVFOR Atalanta, a naval operation to combat piracy off the Horn of Africa, and to the EUTM RCA military advisory and training operation in the Central African Republic. In addition, in 2013-2014, the Polish military contingent performed tasks under the EU training mission in Mali (EUTM Mali), and in 2014-2015 - in the military operation in the Central African Republic (EUFOR RCA), supporting the activities of the United Nations. Previously, we also participated in other operations on the African continent - EUFOR RD Congo (in 2006) and EUFOR Tchad / RCA (in 2008). In both missions, Polish contingents were among the largest.
 

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