Andrzej Duda made the appeal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Addressing the audience in the Polish House pavilion, the president delivered a wide-ranging speech about challenges facing the NATO alliance ahead of its summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
Duda said: “I have no doubts that Russia's attack on sovereign Ukraine has accelerated the need to strengthen NATO's eastern flank.”
He added: “NATO should demonstrate that every nation in Europe has a sovereign right to choose its own security arrangements.”
The president urged the Western alliance to "finalise the accession of Finland and Sweden... as soon as possible.”
‘NATO must respond to Ukraine’s membership aspirations’
Duda stressed: “We also need to respond to Ukraine’s membership aspirations."
“It’s high time to give Kyiv answers on how the accession process should look and what steps are required to guarantee the desirable end result,” he added.
The president told the gathering that “support for Ukraine needs to be continued.”
'This year Poland will spend more than 4% of its GDP on defence'
Duda added that following Russia’s assault on Ukraine, “we need to update NATO guidelines on defense spending.”
He noted that all member countries had committed to raising defence expenditures to 2 percent of GDP by 2024.
“This year Poland will spend more than 4% of its GDP on defence,” Duda declared.
‘Investment in security’
He added that it was “an enormous effort," especially "given Europe’s current economic climate" and "efforts undertaken by Polish society to help Ukrainian people," the PAP news agency reported.
“But I know that this is an investment in the future and safety of the whole region,” the president told the audience in Davos.
The 2023 World Economic Forum, attended by decision makers including the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin, runs until Friday.
Thursday was day 330 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, polsatnews.pl, prezydent.pl
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.