Reuters: Poland wants Britain's help over NATO troops in Brexit talks

03 January 2016

Poland could be open to compromise over British demands to limit the rights of European Union migrants if London helps it bolster the NATO presence in central Europe, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told Reuters.

With hundreds of thousands of Poles living in Britain, Warsaw is one of the EU's staunchest critics of Prime Minister David Cameron's proposal to cut benefits for migrants as part of his planned overhaul of Britain's EU membership terms. [...]

Szydlo's new conservative government, however, is keen to score a diplomatic victory at a summit of the NATO military alliance due to be held in Warsaw in July.

Waszczykowski said the issues were being discussed in tandem.

Asked whether Britain could offer Poland something to soften its opposition to Cameron's proposal, Waszczykowski said: "Of course. Britain could offer something to Poland in terms of international security.

"We still consider ourselves a second-class NATO member-state, because in central Europe ... there aren't, aside from a token presence, any significant allied forces or defense installations, which gives the Russians an excuse to play this region," he said.

Full article on Reuters


© Reuters