President Nawrocki meets defence minister to coordinate Poland's NATO summit stance
Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz met at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday to forge a unified national stance ahead of next week's NATO gathering.
Pre-summit coordination
President Nawrocki and Defence Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz held talks on Wednesday afternoon, with consultations beginning shortly after 15:00 and lasting just over an hour. The meeting at the Presidential Palace was aimed at unifying Poland's voice before the NATO summit in Ankara on 7–8 July. Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka had previewed the agenda a day earlier, stressing that both the president and the defence minister had been conducting separate consultations with allied partners in recent weeks.
A timeline of key coordination steps illustrates the broader effort to cement a common Polish position.
- President Nawrocki holds weekend consultations with NATO counterparts; government presents its summit plan.
- President and defence minister meet at Presidential Palace to align final stance.
- NATO summit opens in Ankara, Turkey.
The presidency earlier confirmed that President Nawrocki would attend the summit alongside his wife, accompanied by representatives from the defence and foreign ministries.
Permanent US military presence
Another major topic was the push to transform the current rotational US troop presence in Poland into a permanent stationing arrangement. Marcin Przydacz, head of the International Policy Bureau, said there is "considerable openness on the American side" and credited "good personal relations with President Nawrocki" for the progress.
Politically, we are working on securing that agreement, but in practical, executive terms, the defence minister must now get down to work.
Przydacz emphasised that the government still needs to deliver the legal and physical infrastructure for a permanent US deployment, urging Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz to move from diplomacy to concrete execution.
Speaking with one voice
Sobkowiak-Czarnecka underlined that the overriding objective was to ensure Poland’s leaders present a unified front.
She confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski will also be part of the delegation in Ankara.It is good for Polish authorities to speak with one voice on international matters.
The Ankara summit
NATO leaders will gather in the Turkish capital on 7–8 July. Poland’s delegation, led by President Nawrocki, will include the defence minister and the foreign minister. The summit is expected to address the future of the alliance, regional security, and the permanent stationing of allied forces on the eastern flank.
