Poland may soon become a hub for American LNG supplies to Slovakia, President Karol Nawrocki said on Wednesday in Bratislava after a meeting with his Slovak counterpart. Peter Pellegrini talked about the possibilities of cooperation between the two countries, including: on defense and energy issues.
Nawrocki is visiting Bratislava on Wednesday, where he already met the president of Slovakia. It also plans, among others, talks with Prime Minister Robert Fico.
During a joint conference with Pellegrini, Nawrocki emphasized that the one-on-one conversation with the Slovak president and Slovakia's support for Poland against Russian drone attacks showed that both countries are not only neighbors, but also proven friends and partners in the EU and NATO.
As he noted, the talks with Pellegrini concerned political, economic and infrastructure topics. President Pellegrini declared, among other things: that the Slovak part of Via Carpatia, i.e. the R4 expressway, is in a “specific process that will be completed in the next few years,” Nawrocki said.
He added that he proposed to his Slovak counterpart that Poland could soon become a real hub for supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the USA to Slovakia. He recalled that Poland already has a terminal in Świnoujście and an interconnector, and expressed hope that the construction of a floating terminal in the Baltic Sea would be completed soon.
Nawrocki noted that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe face a great task of becoming completely independent from Russian gas. As he said, this task should unite the countries of the region and encourage them to cooperate, with the support of US President Donald Trump. He expressed hope that this cooperation would lead the region to resource independence.
In his opinion, economic cooperation both in the Visegrad Group (V4) and in the Three Seas Initiative countries has great potential in this matter.
Referring to cooperation in the field of security, the Polish president emphasized that Slovakia is one of the leaders in ammunition production in Europe, as well as a country interested in purchasing K2PL tanks to be produced in Poland.
Nawrocki emphasized that there are more fields of bilateral cooperation. Both Poland and Slovakia are opposed to accepting any quotas of migrants under the EU migration pact, he noted. He added that he hopes that Hungary and the Czech Republic will confirm this position during the next V4 summit, which is to be held in early December.
– No immigrant quotas will be accepted, and certainly neither I nor President Pellegrini will agree to having Brussels or the EU decide on migration, either to the territory of the Republic of Poland or to Slovakia. And I am very glad that we are on the same side on this topic, said Nawrocki. He assessed that migration “is a threat (…) to our security, to our everyday life, to our women, to our children.”
He noted that when it comes to security projects, Poland is interested in cooperation in the ammunition industry, as well as projects related to the production of Rosomak wheeled armored personnel carriers and other military products.
The Polish leader also said that the US president's declaration that he will not reduce the number of American soldiers stationed in Poland is good news for the entire region.
When later asked about the approach of the government in Bratislava towards Russia, which is different from Poland's, Nawrocki emphasized that Slovakia helps Ukraine, which is fighting aggression, also in military and energy matters.
As for his own position, he emphasized that “helping Ukraine, a clear position (specifying – PAP) who we support in this conflict after the Russian Federation's attack on Ukraine, does not exempt (him – PAP) as the president of Poland from demanding Polish affairs in the international arena in relations with Ukraine.”
Nawrocki said that he was not indifferent to “some of the moves of President (Ukrainian Volodymyr) Zelensky or Ukraine towards Poland, the lack of gratitude for the Polish nation and society that has been signaled for many years, the unresolved Polish-Ukrainian issues regarding the exhumation in Volhynia or the crisis with agricultural produce that was flooding Poland.” You can support Ukraine, but also pursue the interests of the Polish state, he said, noting that Zelensky must take this into account.
Pellegrini emphasized that Poland is a guarantor of security in the region, also for Slovakia, and declared his willingness to cooperate in the field of defense and energy. He noted that his country was in a difficult situation in terms of gas supplies. He declared his interest in the Polish offer regarding liquefied gas, as long as the price is attractive and the transit fees imposed by the Polish side are reasonable.
The Slovak president did not answer a question about his country's policy towards Russia. He spoke about support for Ukraine and expressed optimism about developing cooperation within the V4. (PAP)
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