UK and Poland sign security and defence agreement

UK foreign secretary James Cleverly and defence secretary Ben Wallace have signed a new bilateral ‘2030 Partnership’ with Poland’s minister for foreign affairs Zbigniew Rau and minister for national defence Mariusz Błaszczak.

The partnership covers issues including Belarus and China, and cooperation on defence capability and operations.

The partnership also includes cooperation towards building the next generation of capabilities for the armed forces; increasing the intensity and frequency of joint training exercises; strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence posture; and standing united in approaches to the Indo-Pacific.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly said: "Just as the UK and Poland fought together to preserve freedom in Europe during World War 2, so today the UK and Poland are standing together once more, at the forefront of international support for Ukraine.

"Our 2030 Partnership commits the UK and Poland to even greater defence, security and foreign policy cooperation into the future."

Defence secretary Ben Wallace said: "As historic defence partners and NATO Allies, the UK stands with Poland to defend NATO’s Eastern Flank and support Ukraine against Russian aggression.

"The 2030 Strategic Partnership strengthens our commitment to develop closer military deployments and exercises and deliver on immediate and long-term capability projects."

Image by Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay