Polish Ambassador: NATO ready to cooperate with Armenia, despite its membership in CSTO

ArmInfo.After Russia "attacked" Georgia in 2008, NATO was forced to return to the main paradigm of the North Atlantic alliance. This was announced by the Polish Ambassador to Armenia Jerzy Nowakowski at the conference "NATO from Warsaw to Brussels: security of people and security sector reform in Armenia".

The diplomat recalled that 68 years ago the alliance was created for defensive purposes against the actions of the USSR, then in 1955 NATO became a military-political union, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the political, not the military, component was a priority. According to him, after 2000, the main focus of the alliance was put on the fight against terrorism. "But after Russia attacked Georgia in 2008, and in 2014 Ukraine, NATO was forced to change its strategy and return to its core paradigm. We are convinced that cooperation should develop exclusively in a peaceful channel and political interaction should be a priority.

However, Russia's actions towards Georgia and Ukraine have dispelled this optimistic attitude. From this point of view, the Warsaw summit outlined the vector of the NATO movement. We again returned to the classic NATO, where defense and deterrence are the priority, "the diplomat said. According to Nowkowski, NATO's decision to deploy 4 battalions of the alliance in the East of the organization became Russia's message that the alliance is ready to physically protect its partners and ensure the integrity of their borders. According to the Polish ambassador, the Caucasus is a belt adjacent to the North Atlantic alliance, and the protection of the borders of partners is the main priority of the alliance.

"From this point of view, cooperation with Armenia and other partners is very important. NATO is not directed against someone. He is not directed against Russia and aims to ensure the protection of the security of its members. Despite Armenia's membership in the CSTO, we are ready to cooperate with Yerevan on issues of security, stability, effective cooperation of the army and civil society, "the diplomat said. He also touched upon the visit of US President Donald Trump to Europe, which started today and said that, despite the fact that the American leader does not like Poland, his visit to Warsaw is a demonstration that NATO is ready to defend its borders. "Therefore, I believe that the strengthening of the Eastern Wing of NATO is very important, including for Armenia, since it is a part of it. This also has a message to our Armenian partners, "concluded Nowakowski.