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NATO reassurance for Poland

October 6, 2014

NATO's new head, Jens Stoltenberg, has reassured Poles during a visit to Warsaw that the Western alliance is ready to defend them. He was responding to Polish concerns over the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

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NATO Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg Polen mit Bronislaw Komorowski
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Pawel Supernak

Former Norwegian premier Jens Stoltenberg made his first trip aboard in his new role of NATO secretary general by visiting Poland on Monday.

Speaking in Warsaw after talks with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski (pictured), Stoltenberg said NATO would maintain a presence in the alliance's eastern regions.

There was "no contradiction" between a strong NATO and building constructive relations with Russia, he told the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

His trip was to signal "strong solidarity" from NATO partners to Poland and other Baltic state members, he said, but "without violating NATO's international commitments."

Calls to safeguard Poland

Stoltenberg was responding to calls made by Polish leaders earlier this year that NATO do more to safeguard Poland, because of its proximity to Ukraine's conflict with Russia.

NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia in protest over Moscow's seizure of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

More recently, NATO adopted a plan to create a "spearhead" rapid reaction force.

Komorowski: strengthen Ukraine

Komorowski said on Monday the "number one task" was to strengthen a democratic, independent Ukraine striving for Western structures as well as existing alliance members.

During Monday's visit, Stoltenberg was also due to visit Lask Air Base, where NATO-affiliated aviators are involved in training and exercises.

Stoltenberg took over NATO's top past last Wednesday from Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Russia cooperative with Norway

Stoltenberg told the Gazeta Wyborcza that even during the "coldest periods" of the Cold War, his home country Norway was able to cooperate with its neighbor Russia.

"We were able to cooperate on questions of energy, fisheries and demarcation of maritime borders," the daily quoted him as saying.

In 2010, the-then Norwegian prime minister negotiated a deal with Russia that ended a four-decade dispute over their joint Arctic maritime borders.

Stoltenberg reputedly built a personal friendship with then-president Dmitry Medvedev.

He has also identified NATO-member Turkey as another country he intends to visit early in his tenure.

Speaking through a translater in Warsaw on Monday, Stoltenberg said NATO had the option of moving land troops into Turkey if it proved necessary to protect Turkish security in the face of attacks from "Islamic State" militants in neighboring Syria.

ipj/mz (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)