Poland, Lithuania want NATO's eastern flank strengthened: Speaker

The Speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, Viktoras Pranckietis, was in Warsaw on a two-day visit as his country marks 100 years since an independence declaration signed in February 1918.

Poland, meanwhile, regained its independence after the end of World War I in 1918, following 123 years of partition by Russia, Austria and Prussia.

Strengthening the EU

The Speaker of the Polish parliament, Marek Kuchciński, told reporters in Warsaw on Thursday that Poland and Lithuania have similar views on strengthening the EU - "that is, finding a recipe for strengthening member states and, on the other hand, for the EU to be strengthened".

Kuchciński announced that a special group of parliamentarians would be set up to examine issues related to Poles living in Lithuania and Lithuanians in Poland.

"We want to celebrate the centenaries of the regaining of independence by our two countries very seriously... which is why we accept an invitation... to participate in ceremonies on March 11 in Vilnius, ceremonies [marking] the 100th anniversary of independence,” Kuchciński added.

“Together with the Speaker of the Senate [Poland’s upper house], we will go to these ceremonies.”

Amid fears of Russian aggression following Moscow's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014, NATO decided at a Warsaw summit in July 2016 to deploy four rotating multinational battalions to Poland and three Baltic countries including Lithuania.

(pk/vb)

Source: niezalezna.pl/PAP/IAR