Polish PM to urge “navy policing” in Baltic Sea on visit to Sweden

PHOTO CAPTION: A Swedish Combat Boat is seen during a training exercise with U.S. Marines near the island of Korso, Harsfjarden, Sweden, Aug. 30, 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Victor A. Mancilla via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that he would urge Baltic and Nordic countries to take joint action regarding security of Baltic Sea waters during a two-day trip to Sweden.

In the face of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO countries are taking joint action to protect themselves, including joint control of airspace over the Baltic countries within the framework of so-called "air policing."

"I will convince our partners of the need to immediately create an analogous formula when it comes to the control and security of the Baltic waters, to 'navy policing', a joint undertaking of the countries that lie on the Baltic Sea and that have the same sense of threat when it comes to Russia," Tusk said.

Tusk will take part in a meeting of the prime ministers of the Baltic and Nordic countries on Wednesday and Thursday, and will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The talks will cover transatlantic relations, regional cooperation on security and a common policy towards the war in Ukraine.



(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Bernadette Baum)