President Duda Meets Pentagon Chief
President Andrzej Duda met with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth at the Presidential Palace. The Pentagon chief is visiting a number of European countries in connection with his engagement in Rammstein and the Munich Security Conference. Warsaw is the only place where he will hold bilateral meetings. After the visit, President Duda told the press: I trust that Fort Trump will really be built in Poland.
After almost an hour and a half of private talks, the two delegations met. The Polish President then made a statement to the media:
– I am pleased to note that Pentagon Chief has come to Poland immediately after his visits to Brussels, NATO headquarters, and a meeting with US soldiers in the Federal Republic of Germany, – said President Duda. He also announced that in the coming days the visit of General Keith Kellogg, President Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, is expected in Warsaw. – It is good that on the brink of serious discussions about ending Russian aggression in Ukraine (…) those responsible for security, not only US security, but global security, are coming to Poland to talk with us about what is to come in the near future.
The President noted that „today broad prospects are opening up for the development and the strengthening of Polish–American relations”. He recalled that the past four years of President Donald Trump’s presidency have been a time of strengthening Poland’s security, not least through the US presence in Poland. He mentioned the signing of strategic agreements on military cooperation, the agreement on the purchase of F–35 fighter jets and the decision to base the US 5th Army Command in Poland. – At that time, I smiled that a kind of Fort Trump would be built in Poland, the President recalled.
Today, I can say without a smile and with a sense of certainty that I trust that Fort Trump will be built in our country and that President Trump’s term will mean the strengthening of the US–Polish alliance, including the military alliance, and will also serve to bolster Poland’s security,” the President continued.
Andrzej Duda also stressed that Poland will support President Donald Trump’s policy of insisting on raising the threshold of minimum defence spending among NATO members. This point will also be raised at the NATO summit in The Hague in June.
– This is also something I suggested to President Joe Biden during my visit to the White House last March, and I have also made such proposals to other NATO leaders. At that time, the idea was not taken up, but I hope that now, when they see what is happening on European soil, when they see Russian imperialism rearing its ugly head again, there will be no doubt about the need to continue increasing defence spending,” the Polish President stressed.
Pete Hegseth was accompanied by his Spouse, Jennifer Hegseth, who met with Poland’s First Lady, Agata Kornhauser–Duda.
The plenary talks were attended by Ministers Marcin Mastalerek, Head of the President’s Cabinet, Dariusz Łukowski, Head of the National Security Office, Mieszko Pawlak, Deputy Head of the National Security Office, Wojciech Kolarski, Head of the Foreign Relations Office and his Deputy Nikodem Rachoń.
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Photos: Marek Borawski/KPRP
