UPDATE - Germany, Poland vow to enhance defense cooperation

UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM TUSK; OTHER EDITS

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - Germany and Poland vowed Tuesday to enhance their security and defense cooperation to address growing threats posed by Russia.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany and Poland are aware that they can overcome today’s challenges only by acting together, and that they are determined to assume more responsibility to defend Europe’s borders.

“The security of Germany and Poland are inseparable – that is, Poland's security is also Germany's security, we stand for each other as neighbors, as NATO allies, as EU partners,” he told a joint news conference in Warsaw alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Scholz said that during Tuesday's intergovernmental consultations, they agreed to expand their cooperation in the fields of security and defense, by pooling and coordinating their military capabilities, and bolstering joint European defense initiatives.

“In concrete terms, this means that together we are assuming a leadership role in the Baltic Sea region and in protecting NATO's eastern flank,” Scholz said, adding that Germany and Poland, as leading European nations supporting Ukraine, will continue providing weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian military.

“With his attack on Ukraine, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has violated international law, destroyed the European peace and security order, and endangered security on the entire continent. Together we stand firmly by the side of the Ukrainians in their tireless fight against Russia's imperialist war,” he said.

Tusk underlined that closer cooperation between the two countries on security and defense matters, and joint European defense initiatives, will strengthen deterrence in Eastern Europe, and ensure better protection of the European Union's external borders.

“Germany is ready to take responsibility, along with other EU member states, for the protection of the EU’s eastern border,” Tusk said, adding that during their meeting, they also discussed Warsaw’s Shield East initiative, which aims to strengthen Poland's border with Belarus and Russia, allies in the war on Ukraine.

“I have no doubt that it is also in the interests of the German state for the border to be protected effectively and that Poland, Germany, and Europe live in safety, even in the case of aggression from the east,” Tusk said.

“And we need to coordinate and undertake joint activities against illegal migration, because both of our countries are victims of these organized illegal migration waves,” he added.