Polish President Andrzej Duda said he will recommend that NATO increases its response forces along NATO’s eastern flank from 40,000 to 300,000 to counter Russia. Duda, who made the remarks at the London Defence Conference in London on Wednesday, said he will lobby for the large increase in forces to be made a priority when he attends July’s NATO summit in Vilnius.
In order for the West to resist Russia’s efforts, he said he believes that “the situation in our region means that we need to unite our efforts like never before and strengthen NATO to deter the aggressor effectively.”
Duda said the most important goal for Poland is the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank with the deployment of greater numbers of troops and an increase in troops ready to respond from 40,000 to 300,000.
Another priority listed by the Polish president is the establishment of a multi-corps land force in Poland. At the same time, it is critical to motivate all allies to increase their spending on defense.
“I do mean all allies, NATO is not just U.S. forces, it’s our joint potential, which depends on the strength of each allied country,“ said Duda.
He argued that this was key for Article 5 of NATO’s treaty, which guarantees a response when an ally is under attack. In order to ensure the credibility of this article, Duda said the countries must respect Article 3, which obliges all to individually maintain and develop their capacity to deter armed aggression.
