On Monday, 12 October in Warsaw, the Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Deputy Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka took part in the Warsaw Security Forum.
During the event, the Deputy Prime Minister met with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), gen. Alexus Grynkewich. The Minister of National Defence has also attended a number of bilateral meetings and gave opening remarks for the panel “How Can Europe Build the Military Power It Needs?”.

- What to do for Europe to be stronger – that’s the topic of today’s debate. How to forge the difficult achievements and experiences of these last few months into being able to build strength and the resilience and defence potential for the whole of Europe? I will begin by saying that Europe has to take greater responsibility on itself. This is not just a buzzword anymore, but something European countries are fully aware of since the decision from the Hague in 2025 on spending 5% of GDP for defence by 2035. (…) We are the leader of using European funds from the SAFE programme – 44 billion euros, or almost a third of the entire amount went to Poland, and of that sum, two thirds  has already been given to the Polish defence industry. Europe has to make its defence industry supply chain independent, that is the task that needs to be fulfilled first. (…) Military mobility is another matter with which the European Union has been struggling with for years now, and there is still no decision allowing for the free movement of troops without prior approval of all the regions or lands. This needs to end as soon as possible. (…) Poland wants to take greater responsibility for its partners, especially on the eastern flank of NATO. The more American soldiers are stationed in Poland, if we were to have a permanent base and presence of US troops, the more responsibility for the eastern flank of NATO we can take. (…) Europe has to do more not to replace America. We want an alliance with the United States. A lasting, predictable alliance, not just in the areas of intelligence exchange or military capabilities, but also for our defence industries. I believe that the defence industry strategy should be highlighted as part of plans for NATO 3.0, show it prominently. Things like moving production lines and service centres to Europe, for example those for the Patriot missiles

- said the Minister of National Defence during the Warsaw Security Forum.

Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister was present for the discussion of gen. Grynkewich with prof. Katarzyna Pisarska, the head of Warsaw Security Forum, entitled: “The Theory of Victory: How To Achieve Military Success in Deterrence and Defence Against Russia?”.

- NATO is a defensive alliance. However, no one should mistake our defensive nature for weakness or lack of determination. If anyone was so reckless as to attack us, we will fight. (…) If we are attacked, we are ready to fight tonight, but we will not fall into complacency. We will still prepare and train every day, so tomorrow we will be even more ready, and even more the day after that. (…) If an adversary will threaten escalation, rattling their sabre, or actually decides on escalation during a conflict, this will not fracture our Alliance. On the contrary – it will make us even more united

- noted the Supreme Allied Commander Europe gen. Alexus Grynkewich, presenting his „theory of victory” during the Warsaw Security Forum.

Warsaw Secuirty Forum is an annual conference, organised by the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. WSF is a place for exchanging experiences and views on the security policy of the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union, as well as partner countries. The guests are high-level country representatives, ambassadors, politicians and experts in international affairs and security.

- We do not want to waste time. Poland remembers, especially from the time of the Second World War, when not everything was yet ready,  that the only boundless thing was the bravery of the Polish soldier and everything else had limits – the alliances had limits, deliveries had limits, supplies had limits. We do not want to have this history lesson, which our ancestors have learned once before, in their experience and the experience of all the Polish families, we do not want to repeat it

- noted the Deputy Prime Minister.

On the sidelines of the Forum, the Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz met with the US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone and the Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands, Hungary, Norway, Kosovo and Belgium.

- I believe that this is the moment when the US government and companies will agree to co-production with Europe. The cooperation between the European Union and America is necessary. We have the SAFE instrument. We have decided to invest almost all the funds into our defence industry to make ourselves independent from other supply chains. (…) The lesson from Ukraine is that on the first day it is important how much equipment we have in place, but on the second and further days it is important to maintain what we have. This is something we are preparing for. Is Poland open to companies from other countries? Yes, this is one of the ideas present in the Ministry of National Defence. If a company wants to sell something to the Polish government, then we don’t look only at the price and quality. We are looking at four additional conditions. The first is a maintenance centre, co-production, local suppliers or at least investing in local training. So there is no chance for anyone to sell us something without investing in the region. This is also a matter of maintenance

- stressed the Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defence Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, who took part in the panel entitled: “How Can Europe Build the Military Potential It Needs?”.