Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that the logo’s symbolism evokes ancient Nike, Roman Victoria, and the coat of arms of heroic Warsaw. “The Warsaw Summit will be a special event for Poland. It will take place in a city after which the Cold War military pact of 1955 was named, and which for almost four decades remained the Alliance’s main adversary. Sixty years on, hosting NATO in Warsaw will carry a symbolic meaning. It will be the first meeting of Allies since Bucharest in a state on NATO’s eastern flank,” the chief of Polish diplomacy said at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels today.
“The Summit should be a milestone in the long-term process of political and military adaptation of the Alliance,” noted Minister Waszczykowski. He called for solidarity, shared responsibility and equal security for all NATO members. “Thus, we will be able to write a new page in our common history,” he added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasised that the mermaid in the logo is the emblem of the great, 600- year-old city. According to a legend, after being saved by a fisherman, the mermaid armed with a sword and shield stood ready to defend the city and its people. That is exactly the case with NATO now, which is ready to protect the Polish people.
The NATO Secretary General looked forward to productive talks in Warsaw next year in July.
Between 8 and 9 July 2016, Warsaw will host heads of state and government, and foreign and defence ministers of 28 NATO member and partner states, 2,500 delegates altogether, and close to 1,500 media staff. Political and defence challenges ahead of the Warsaw NATO Summit were the subject of Minister Waszczykowski’s talks today with US Secretary of State John Kerry and General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
During the first day of consultations in Brussels, the foreign ministers discussed NATO’s responses to threats coming from the Middle East and North Africa, the situation in Syria, and the fight against terrorism. The ministers also spoke about the future of the Resolute Support training mission in Afghanistan.
Talks during the two-day meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels also focus on the security of the NATO’s eastern flank and prospects of solving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Source: Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Poland
Picture © Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Poland