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'No decision' on Poland's post-2014 Afghan funding commitment

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 21.05.2012 08:11
President Komorowski has said a decision on how much funding Poland will contribute to Afghan security post-2014 will not be made at the two-day NATO summit, currently under way in Chicago.

Anders
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Bronislaw Komorowski and Barack Obama in Chicago: photo - EPA/David Banks

“There is no decision on this matter and I do not think it will be made ​​in the near future. It will be the subject of discussions within the alliance as a whole,” Bronislaw Komorowski told reporters when summing up the first day of the summit, which is being attended by over 50 national leaders, including heads of state and government from the 28 NATO countries.

NATO is preparing to pull troops from Afghanistan in 2014, leaving behind a smaller force to train Afghan forces. The mission will cost around 4 billion USD a year and the United States, which will fund the majority of the project, wants contributions from other member states.

Washington is believed to have asked Poland for around 20 million USD annually.

France's new president, Francios Hollande has said that Paris intends to pull out its troops by the end of 2012, two years earlier than the rest of the alliance.

President Barack Obama said, however, that: "Just as we've sacrificed together for our common security, we will stand united in our determination to complete this mission.”

NATO chief, General Anders Fogh Rasmussen , said that there will be “no rush for exits” in Afghanistan.

The summit is also discussing building an anti-missile defence system in Europe, which President Komorowski said Poland is “fully committed to”.

Moscow opposes the system.

Komorowski also had talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel, where, according to the Polish president, the two leaders' discussion focused “mainly on the Ukrainian issue and issues surrounding Euro 2012,” which Poland is co-hosting with Ukraine.

Germany has called for a boycott of officials attending matches in Ukraine while the imprisonment of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko continues.

Komorowski said that while both he and Merkel agreed to keep politics out of sport “as much as possible”, “the conversation will continue, even after my talks with [Ukrainian] President Yanukovich,” who is also in Chicago for the summit. (pg)

tags: NATO
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