Development of Polish crisis management tools
Development of Polish crisis management tools

Author(s): Wojciech Lorenz
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Security and defense, Military policy, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)
Keywords: Poland; crisis management tools; NATO; EU;
Summary/Abstract: Poland has a long history of contributing to international missions. Since 1953 Polish military staff have participated in international commissions and observer teams monitoring the armistice on the Korean Peninsula and in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Nigeria. In 1973, during the détente in relations between the West and the Soviet bloc, Poland became the first member of the Warsaw Pact to be invited to serve on the UN mission (UNEF II) in the Middle East. But it was only after the democratic changes in 1989 that crisis management missions gained new significance and became an important foreign policy tool used to advance Polish reintegration with the West. Today, Poland, a country of 38 million people, is an important member of NATO and is the seventh biggest economy in the European Union. It seems quite natural that it should have a growing interest in maintaining the broader stability of the transatlantic area through active and effective CR activities.

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