NATO – in spite of certain capability shortcomings and the necessity to rebalance the burden sharing – continues to be strong both militarily and politically, noted speakers at a seminar “NATO: 1949 – 1999 – 2019. The 20 Years of Poland in the 70 Years of the Alliance” dedicated to the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of NATO and the 20th Anniversary of the membership of Poland in the Alliance on 20 November 2019 at the ICDS.
The eFP and EDI presence in the Baltic states and Poland for deterring Russia and preventing conflict is an important aspect of the credibility of NATO and signals the political solidarity and determination of the Allies.
The seminar was opened by H.E. Grzegorz Kozłowski, Ambassador of Poland to Estonia, and Anna Kurowska, Programme Manager at the IES. The panel discussion was moderated by ICDS Reserach Fellow Kalev Stoicescu, and presentations were made by H.E. Boguslaw Winig, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Poland, and Dr. Johannes Rieckmann, Senior Research Fellow at BIGS (Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security).
The moderator and the speakers covered a broad range of issues related to the Alliance’s past, present and foreseeable future. They discussed relations between North-America and Europe (the Transatlantic Link and EU’s efforts to develop defence capabilities of European Allies), the Brexit, relations with Turkey, threats to Europe from the east and south, NATO’s planning process and budgets etc.
The seminar was hosted by ICDS and was organised in cooperation with the Institute for Eastern Studies (Poland).
