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Jordan, Poland look to enhance military cooperation

By Khetam Malkawi - May 11,2014 - Last updated at May 11,2014

AMMAN — Jordan and Poland on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding for military cooperation, a senior Polish official said.

Robert Kupiecki, Poland’s undersecretary of state for defence policy, said this is the first agreement of its kind signed between Amman and Warsaw.

In an interview with The Jordan Times, Kupiecki explained that the memo specifies the areas of possible cooperation in the military field.

“It sets the basic conditions and points the areas of cooperation like joint training, and military education… It is also about the acquisition of modern military equipment, research and development in the field of military technology,” he said.

According to the visiting official, both Jordan and Poland sometimes operate the same military equipment, and Warsaw is offering Jordan assistance “to modernise it to enhance its operation and capabilities”.

“We in Poland can offer a lot in terms of upgrading the existing equipment and [are] also open for other opportunities,” he noted.

Signing such an agreement with Jordan is proof of Poland’s interest in deepening and extending cooperation with the Kingdom, according to the defence official.

“Despite the geographical distance, there are some striking similarities between the paths of our countries,” Kupiecki said, noting that both nations share very difficult and challenging neighbourhoods which require good policies aimed at stabilisation. 

Poland and Jordan have solid investments in their military capabilities to protect their interests and maintain security and stability, he noted.

Both countries enjoy stability in turbulent areas and their political stability is growing; in addition, Amman and Warsaw invest in the relations with their neighbours, which might pose some challenges to their security, the official said.

Although the two countries already cooperate in the military sphere, this agreement comes to structure and regulate this cooperation, Kupiecki stressed, noting that “our foreign operations participated together in Afghanistan.”

“Over the last couple of years, we were doing our best to increase our presence in Jordan… there has been also an interest among Polish companies in investing in Jordan and collaborating with their Jordanian counterparts,” he added.

In addition, last year Poland established a defence attaché office, and Polish soldiers took part in the Eager Lion international military exercise.

Kupiecki noted that he has invited senior Jordanian defence officials to take part in Kielce, an annual military exhibition that takes place in Poland in September.

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