Speaking to the media after the meeting in the Portuguese city of Porto, Duda said on Friday evening that "there is no doubt that admitting Ukraine to the European Union and NATO would strengthen the security of our part of Europe."
He argued that Ukrainian membership of the EU and NATO "will, in fact, mean a defeat for Russia" in its war against Ukraine.
'We need to improve EU border defence'
Duda told the media that the European leaders gathered in Porto also discussed ways to tackle increasing migration into the continent.
"Poland has been affected by a hybrid migration attack from Belarus in the last two years," he said, as quoted by his office. “Migrants are being pushed to our border, which is also the border of the EU and the Schengen area."
He added: "We are determined to protect this border and we believe that this is one of the ways to counteract migration. We need to improve the EU's border defence mechanisms."
Duda further stated that "Poland opposes the imposition of asylum and migration solutions that do not fight the causes of migration, but only address its effects at the expense of various European countries."
"In our opinion, this is not the way to tackle the migration problem," he argued.
"I hope we will be able to solve the migration problem together, in harmony and agreement, so that we can develop effective and responsible mechanisms to ensure security for Europe," he added.
'We hope the bloc will be able to expand'
Summit participants also discussed "the future and enlargement of the EU," according to Duda.
"We hope the bloc will be able to expand to include new countries, notably the Western Balkans as well as Ukraine and Moldova," he said. "It is also a matter of building our European security and ... prosperity."
He predicted that "Europe's development prospects will be very bright indeed thanks to Ukraine's future membership in the EU."
Security challenges prompted by 'Russia's neo-imperial policy'
Duda's top foreign policy aide, Marcin Przydacz, told reporters on Friday that the discussions in the Portuguese city primarily revolved around "current security challenges, primarily those related to Russia's neo-imperial policy."
"Many countries within the group emphasize their continued commitment to deterring Russia," Przydacz said.
On Thursday, Duda and Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki reiterated their opposition to proposed new EU migration rules and vowed to communicate their criticism to top European politicians at international meetings this week.
In a joint statement to the media, the two leaders said they opposed any plans by the European Union for "mandatory relocation of migrants" across the bloc.
The Arraiolos Group brings together heads of state from EU member countries that have parliamentary rather than presidential models of government, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The group is named after the small Portuguese town where the first such meeting took place in 2003.
The next summit of the Arraiolos Group will be held in Poland's southern city of Kraków on October 10 and 11, 2024, the Polish president announced on Friday.
Polish President Andrzej Duda attends the Arraiolos Group summit in Porto, Portugal, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
The participants of the Arraiolos Group meeting in Porto, Portugal on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Photo: EPA/ESTELA SILVA
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Friday is day 590 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, prezydent.pl
