North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Transformation
September 27, 2013
ACT Hosts Historic Visit by Polish President
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), French Air Force General Jean-Paul Paloméros welcomed the Polish President, Bronisław Komorowski, at his headquarters (HQ) in Norfolk, Virginia, September 26th.
While several Ministers of Defence from different NATO nations have visited HQ SACT, President Komorowski is the first Head of State to visit the HQ since its creation in 2003.
During his welcome speech, General Paloméros praised Poland for its support to the Alliance: “NATO is very fortunate indeed to have among its members a free Poland, whose soldiers champion superbly the solidarity that is the soul of the Washington Treaty. Your country has paid a heavy price in blood for our Alliance in Afghanistan, particularly in the Ghanzi province where you continue to play a prominent role in training Afghan forces. Poland is also a great supporter of NATO’s Transformation.”
President Komorowski confirmed the Polish commitments to the Alliance today and for the future. “Our contribution to the Alliance is not only in the form of our needs and expectations, but also in the form of our assets and capabilities. We are also strengthening the Alliance by the modernisation of the Polish armed forces which are contributing to the future of NATO, NATO today and in the post Afghan era,” said the president during his speech.
Since its entry into NATO in 1999, Poland has been a strong supporter of the Alliance’s efforts, maintaining a high level of interactions on both strategic and working levels. Poland currently hosts the NATO Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC), located in Bydgoszcz. “We know that this enduring effort will be a great help to NATO to capitalise on two decades of operations, to support its contingency posture, and to fulfil its key missions of collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security,” said General Paloméros.
Poland also sponsors several Centres of Excellence (COEs) and is at the final stage of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Military Police COE that is hosted in Bydgoszcz along with the JFTC.
Poland will support the forthcoming Steadfast Jazz 2013 exercise in collaboration with Latvia. “We attach great significance not only to our actions and solidarity in Afghanistan, but also in the performance of the exercise that is important not only for Poland but also for other countries of central Europe, namely Steadfast Jazz,” said President Komorowski.
After the welcome ceremony, the president had an office call with General Paloméros and the Deputy SACT, Italian Air Force General Mirco Zuliani. President Komorowski was given an update on NATO transformation, SACT’s priorities and the challenges that await NATO nations in a post-Afghanistan era; “Future NATO” and the “Transatlantic Bond” were the central themes of the discussions, with ACT’s leadership.
Following his meeting with SACT, the president met with HQ SACT’s Polish staff members, thanking them for their support.
In the President’s delegation were also the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Radosław Sikorski, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to NATO, Ambassador Jacek Najder, and the Secretary of State, Head of the National Security Bureau, Professor Stanislaw Koziej.
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