Poland is looking for additional military support compared to the one offered by the US. Deepened collaboration treaty with France
Donald Tusk and Emmanuel Macron Photo: Christophe Petit Tesson / AP / Profimedia
France and Poland signed on Friday in Nancy, in the east of France, a treaty to strengthen the cooperation between the two states in defense, nuclear energy and other measures, in a sign of strengthening the alliances between the European nations due to concerns about the US commitment to the security of Europe and the War taken by Russia in Ukraine.
According to AFP, the treaty, similar to those already signed by France with Germany, Italy and Spain, was initialed in the famous building of the Nancy City Hall, Lorena, also known as the Stanislas Palace, given that the King of Poland, Stanislaw Leszczynski, lived in the eighteenth century, under his exile, under his exile Russian and Austrian.
The signing of this pact intervenes the day before Ukraine hosts a meeting of the leaders of the so-called “coalition of volunteers”-countries led by France and the United Kingdom who want to increase support for Ukraine in front of a more skeptical Trump administration.
President Emmanuel Macron, speaking with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, said France will participate in the Ukraine Summit, but refused to say if he will be personally present, saying he will travel to Ukraine when necessary.
The treaty with Poland includes a mutual assistance clause, which strengthens the commitment between the two NATO member states to support each other in the event of an attack, as well as a commitment to deepen military and technological ties. “I am deeply convinced that starting from today France and Poland, in these difficult times, will be able to count on each other in any situation,” said Tusk.
Previously, Tusk said that the pact would open the way of cooperation on a potential expansion of the French nuclear umbrella to cover Poland. However, the treaty itself does not specifically mention access to the nuclear discouragement of France.
Macron had stated in March that he was willing to expand French nuclear capabilities to other European nations, partly in response to increasing doubts about the US.
The “vital interests” of France, which are the basis of its nuclear discouragement strategy, also integrates those of its “main partners” in Europe, Emmanuel Macron assured on Friday. “From the 1960s, from the words of General de Gaulle, the European dimension of this discouragement was stated and was constantly reaffirmed by all my predecessors and I could do it myself,” said the French president in the press conference with Donald Tusk.
The new pact contains provisions regarding a deeper integration in the field of nuclear energy, France being eager to export its nuclear know-how to Europe.
The treaty is a proof of the increasing role of Poland on the European scene due to its strategic position on the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance. Poland spends 4.12 % of GDP for defense, the highest percentage of NATO, notes Reuters. Tusk's centrist and pro -European government wants to diversify their security partnerships beyond Washington.
