http://www2.polskieradio.pl/eo/dokument.aspx?iid=122963

Polish troops to stay in Afghanistan

31.12.2009

The process of withdrawing Polish troops from Afghanistan will start in about two years – announced Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski during a visit to the NATO Joint Force Training Center in Bydgoszcz.

 

Speaking at the press conference there he stressed that the strengthening of the Polish contingent there brings Poland’s army to “NATO’s first league”.  

- I think that slowly but consistently we are implementing our strategy in Afghanistan. We have completed our missions in Iraq, the Lebanon, Syria and Chad and strengthened the one in Afghanistan - said Mr. Sikorski. - I think that, as a result, the Polish Army is getting an experience there and entering NATO's first league. This is also an issue of giving the Afghan government another chance to bring some kind of control over its country. We would like to start withdrawing from there in about two years.

 

Speaking in Bydgoszcz minister Sikorski also said that the operations of the Polish troops in Afghanistan should focus, first and foremost, on the training of Afghani soldiers and police in order to teach them how to provide security to local citizens and fight effectively on their own with terrorists. (di)