Tuesday’s session began with a debate on strengthening European defence in the light of Russian aggression against Ukraine. European military capabilities were discussed in political and institutional termsas was the concept of building a European Union Armed Forces and the military potential of EU member states. ‘Russia’s attack on Ukraine undermined the international order in Europe, built on respect for international law, and the understanding that borders are not to be changed through the use of force. This is the first conclusion we can draw from these events, which did not start three years ago, but have a much deeper history, going back far beyond 2014. From the very beginning, the states of the transatlantic community have had a common view of who is the victim of an attack and who is the aggressor,’ said Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Zalewski in his speech. ‘We support the American demand for greater European involvement in defending Europe’s interests. Poland has been doing this for a long time. Spending 4.7% of our GDP on defence shows our determination. Unfortunately, what we also notice is the transactional approach to international order and the departure from the basic norms and values underpinning international relations. We cannot agree to treating the aggressor as a full participant in international relations. Abandoning the principle of the territorial status quo in favour of territorial claims opens the way to global chaos and destroys the unity of the West’, he pointed out. ‘European unity in this matter is a challenge – it is not a given. European unity will only be maintained if we are of one mind as to the threat posed by Russia. We need to realise where we stand. We do not know when and under what terms the hostilities unleashed by Russia on Ukraine will end. We all share the feeling that the process of finding some sort of terms of truce has begun and the question now is what conclusions will Europe draw from the fact that this truce is declared’, he stated.

The Chairwoman of the Committee for the Integration of Ukraine into the European Union, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, then took the floor. ‘The old world order is no more. We are out of time and we need to arm ourselves. There is no alternative. This is the brutal reality we face. Europe must understand that security is a value. Without the foundation of security, it is impossible to build lasting peace and prosperity’, she said.

‘Europe must quickly realise that the procession of conferences and summits will not defend us. The longer we turn a blind eye to reality, the sooner we will lose the opportunity to do so. Conferences and summits will not fight for us, they do not act as air defence or drone jamming equipment. We need concrete action’, she noted.

‘The question is whether there will be a broad European alliance of which Ukraine will be an integral part. We cannot wait until we come up with the perfect plan. We need to implement concrete initiatives now. Of course, strategic objectives are needed, but we have time for that. Europe needs to understand that it has a formidable enemy at its doorstep and that Ukraine, thanks to generous support, is holding back this onslaught. The real test of whether European politicians recognise the value of security will be a change in rhetoric’, she pointed out.

‘There is no better place when it comes to talking about defence than Warsaw and the Polish Sejm. Here we touch on the history of Poles who fought for their freedom, liberty and Europe, and they carry on fighting. The latest chapter is now being written by the Ukrainians, who are also fighting on our behalf’, said the Director General for Defence Industry and Space at the European Commission, Timo Pesonen. ‘We are at a pivotal moment. The balance we saw for some time after the end of the Cold War is not coming back. Faced with the possible return of an intense war, we must act now to guarantee our security’, he said. ‘We also need to prevent such conflicts in the future. It is time for Europe to start defending itself. All the information coming from the intelligence services say the same thing: Putin is preparing and arming Russia, because he wants to see if Article 5 will work on the soil of Europe. This is why we need to invest more in defence. We want peace, therefore we must prepare for war. This is the purpose of the ReArm Europe programme, which was presented by the President of the European Commission’, he said.

The debates in this part of the conference were co-chaired by the Chairman of the Senate National Defence Committee, Mirosław Różański, and the Chairwoman of the Committee on Security and Defence of the European Parliament, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.

Another highlight of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP was a thematic session on security in the Baltic Sea region, which was devoted to hostile Russian actions – attempts to change borders and circumvent EU sanctions. The discussion was led by the chairman, chairman of the National Defence Committee, Andrzej Grzyb.

As Vice-Admiral Krzysztof Jaworski, one of the keynote speakers, pointed out, in recent times ‘there has been an increase in the occurrence of incidents of GPS and GNSS signal jamming’ in the Baltic Sea area. ‘The second half of 2024 saw a significant increase in these incidents in the Baltic Sea, especially when it comes to satellite navigation systems, whose signals have been jammed and spoofed. These threats are very clear – they affect maritime traffic, in particular spoofing, which involves sending signals that indicate the position of a particular receiver. This, of course, hinders understanding the real picture of the situation at sea.  The growing number of such incidents has very serious implications for maritime traffic. We are talking about shipping disruptions, operational delays, higher insurance costs and impact on supply chains’, said Vice Admiral Jaworski.

‘In light of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the increasing threat to critical subsurface infrastructure, the Polish Navy has launched “Operation Gulf”. The aim of it is to bolster the security of Poland’s critical infrastructure. Operation Gulf is being carried out on the basis of a concept approved by the Ministry of Defence by a number of naval vessels, supported by aviation, special forces and the maritime branch of the Border Guard’, the Commander of the Maritime Operations Centre informed.

The Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs Jarosław Ćwiek-Karpowicz also gave a speech. ‘There is no doubt as to Russia’s aim to force a change in the European security architecture by subjugating Ukraine, and to establish a buffer zone in the area of NATO’s eastern flank states. Russia is attempting to pursue these goals by undermining the security of NATO and EU states and increasing the cost of maintaining it’, said the director of PISM.

Director Ćwiek-Karpowicz expressed his belief that the dismantling the political cohesion of Western states is intended to weaken their effectiveness to resist Russia and make it easier for Russia to achieve its strategic objectives. ‘In this sense, the Baltic Sea and the region around it is now and will remain an area of intensified and hostile Russian activity,’ he stressed.

‘There is no doubt that the Baltic Sea is one of the most important transport corridors with the highest volume of cargo ships in the world – some 15% of global maritime freight transport pass through it. For the EU and NATO member states, this sea is becoming increasingly important from the point of view of energy security’, Jarosław Ćwiek-Karpowicz pointed out.

Closing remarks were made by the chairs of the Sejm and Senate committees for European Union affairs. ‘We have heard speeches by many esteemed guests, numerous interesting insights and debates on current issues in foreign affairs, defence and security,’ said the Chairman of the Senate European Union Affairs Committee. Senator Tomasz Grodzki also talked about the key issues from each thematic session held at the Sejm as part of the two-day conference.

‘We have talked about security and the threats coming from different sides, but I am convinced that every crisis is also an opportunity to come out stronger, an opportunity to launch new projects, a new opening. This was confirmed during our debates. We aligned our perspectives, because we face very similar problems, and we are even more ready to solve them effectively’, said the Chairwoman of the Sejm European Affairs Committee, Agnieszka Pomaska. ‘I have no doubt that Europe is the best place in the world to live. I also have no doubt, given the different dimensions of security, that Europe is also the safest place to be in. I am convinced that today we will emerge stronger than ever,’ she pointed out.