2024-02-26 12:45:29
While in Poland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada’s defense spending levels, while his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk urged the rest of the West to confront the very real dangers that Vladimir’s Russia now poses Poutine.
At a press conference on Monday, Mr. Trudeau said that Canada was the seventh largest contributor to defense among NATO’s 31 allies, but he acknowledged that much remained to be done.
We know that there is more to do and we are in the process of doing it, he assured in Warsaw, alongside Mr. Tusk.
We recognize how much more dangerous the world has become and Canada will be there with the equipment and armed forces necessary to do our part.
Prime Minister Tusk, for his part, deflected criticism of Canada by urging the entire Western world, and particularly Europe, to ensure that Ukraine has the resources it needs for a decisive victory over Russia.
Canada’s defense commitments to Poland and Ukraine so far have been exceptional, Tusk noted, rejecting former U.S. President Donald Trump’s bellicose rhetoric regarding NATO spending.
But the simplest solution to such complaints, he suggested, would be for all NATO members to step up their efforts and respect the mandatory spending threshold of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).
It will happen sooner or later, Tusk said, and it’s better that they do it sooner rather than later, he added through an interpreter.
Mr. Trudeau noted that his Liberal government has already committed to a new fleet of high-tech stealth fighters and the modernization of the joint Canadian-American command known as NORAD.
Canada is under renewed pressure to spend 2% of its GDP on defense, a NATO-mandated target that most other allies are expected to meet by the end of the year. Canada’s spending currently hovers around 1.3% of GDP.
Both leaders also acknowledged that there are people elsewhere in the world, including in Europe, whose willingness to support Ukraine threatens to weaken and who stand in the way of the formation of a united front.
This is a time when citizens cannot take their democracy for granted, Mr. Trudeau warned.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hold a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery in Warsaw on February 26, 2024.
Photo: Reuters / KACPER PEMPEL
Justin Trudeau, who traveled to kyiv on Saturday to reaffirm Canada’s support for Ukraine, met earlier Monday with Mr. Tusk and President Andrzej Duda at the presidential palace in Warsaw.
A first visit to Poland for Mr. Trudeau
It is Mr. Trudeau’s first visit to the Polish capital since a radical political change in the country ended eight years of conservative rule late last year.
Mr Tusk, who also served as the country’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014, is a centrist who took office in December and has been working to strengthen ties with the rest of Europe.
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Andrzej Duda, left, shakes hands with Justin Trudeau, ahead of talks on European security and support for Poland’s neighbor Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, in Warsaw, Monday, February 26, 2024 .
Photo: Associated Press / Czarek Sokolowski
President Duda, for his part, is a conservative leader who must now deal with a very different government.
The meetings focused on the dangers facing Ukraine and the importance of the NATO alliance, the main bulwark between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the rest of Europe.
Support for Ukraine
Canada and Poland have rallied behind Ukraine as the country enters its third year of war with dwindling supplies and personnel problems, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to seek aid from ’emergency.
Its troops recently withdrew from the strategic town of Avdiivka in the east of the country, giving Russia one of its greatest victories. And Russia still controls about a quarter of the country, while Ukraine has failed to achieve a major breakthrough during its summer counteroffensive.
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The looming and difficult battle did not stop Prime Minister Trudeau from doubling down on his promise to support Ukraine until it achieves victory.
Putin cannot win, he said Saturday in a speech from Hostomel airport in Ukraine, where Ukrainian soldiers repelled a Russian assault on the first day of the invasion.
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Justin Trudeau speaks during a ceremony at Hostomel Airport in kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, February 24, 2024. (File photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / Nathan Denette
Ukraine will experience victory, just like what happened here two years ago.
The Polish government wants to ensure that Canada and its other allies remain engaged in the war raging right on its border, Canada’s ambassador to the country said in a weekend interview. Catherine Godin called the war in Ukraine a real and present threat to the Polish people.
Canada and Poland are cooperating on military training missions aimed at strengthening the skills of the Ukrainian armed forces. And Poland appreciates Canada’s role in protecting NATO’s eastern flank in Latvia, according to Ambassador Godin.
Connections with Europe
On what the change of government in Poland means for Canada, Ms. Godin noted that Ottawa will support Prime Minister Tusk’s push to repair strained relations between Warsaw and Brussels after the Union European Union (EU) had described the previous Polish government as a threat to judicial independence.
In 2021, the EU denounced what it saw as deficiencies in Poland’s national justice systems, anti-corruption frameworks and media freedom.
According to Catherine Godin, they worked very hard in favor of the rule of law. Their main concern has been to enable them to demonstrate that they are committed and can access EU funds and demonstrate their commitment to human rights.
This also corresponds to Canadian values.
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