NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on September 30 that he is confident that both Poland and Slovakia will continue to support Ukraine after upcoming elections, despite recent harsh rhetoric toward Kiev.
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| NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attends a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Kiev, Ukraine October 1, 2023. (Source: Reuters) |
In Poland, new parliamentary elections are due to take place on October 15. Last week, the country said it would not agree to deliver new weapons to Ukraine and would instead focus on rebuilding its own stockpiles.
Previously, Poland, considered one of Ukraine's staunchest allies, took the step following a dispute over grain imports from Ukraine to Poland, which Warsaw imposed an embargo on, saying it harmed the interests of Polish farmers.
“I expect and believe that Ukraine and Poland will find a way to resolve these issues without negatively affecting military support for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Slovakia, a NATO member and staunch ally of Ukraine, has sent military equipment to its eastern neighbor including MiG-29 fighter jets and S-300 air defense systems.
However, the opposition leader, former Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who leads the polls ahead of the September 30 election, has pledged to end such military support for Ukraine.
Referring to the early elections in Slovakia, NATO leader Stoltenberg said that regardless of who heads the new government in Slovakia, support for Ukraine will continue. He said: “No matter what kind of new government Slovakia has, we will continue to have NATO meetings and I am confident that we will find a way to continue to support, as we have done after every election since the conflict in Ukraine broke out.”
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