Polish Foreign Ministry criticizes Duda over nuclear sharing comments

A Polish Foreign Ministry official said that President Andrzej Duda's comments about hosting allied nuclear arms in Poland should have been first consulted with the government, Polskie Radio reported on April 29.

"It should have been first consulted with the government, instead of just coming out and saying: we want nuclear arms on our territory," Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said.

Duda said in an interview with the Fakt outlet on April 22 that if the "allies decide to deploy nuclear weapons as part of nuclear sharing also on our (Polish) territory to strengthen the security of NATO's eastern flank, we are ready for it."

Szejna commented that such issues must be analyzed holistically: "We must first look at what the entire security concept looks like, and whether it includes (nuclear sharing) and whether NATO expects it from Poland."

The official added that if the allies ask for the deployment of their nuclear arms on Polish territory, Warsaw should agree, but nobody has made such a request so far.

Szejna also criticized Duda's proclamation by saying that "for example," it may expose Poland "to the risk of Russian missiles." The two countries are not at war, and the official did not specify circumstances under which such an attack could have taken place.

The Polish president's comments came against the backdrop of mounting tensions between NATO and Moscow, which spiked after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons in response to Western support for Ukraine, but the threats have so far failed to materialize.

Read also: Sikorski: ‘We want to help Ukraine, but you must decide how long you are ready to go on’

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