Poland to hold countrywide defence drills - president's adviser
By Wiktor Szary
WARSAW, March 12 (Reuters) - Poland will stress-test its defence capabilities with a series of countrywide drills involving the government, local authorities and the military in response to the Ukraine crisis, Polish president's chief security adviser said.
A former eastern bloc country which became a NATO member in 1999, Poland is concerned that Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in Ukraine may be a foretaste of it reasserting itself in the rest of Eastern Europe.
Since the beginning of the crisis, Polish politicians have regularly called for increasing NATO's military presence in the region. Poland has also speeded up its army modernisation programme, worth an estimated $33 billion.
Poland will assess its overall readiness for a potential military conflict, General Stanislaw Koziej, head of National Security Bureau told Reuters in an interview authorised for release on Thursday, with drills likely to begin in the second half of this year.
"It is a whole series of exercises, aimed at testing ... all of the state's elements - the government, ministers, regional governors, local councils, boroughs - in a time of crisis and war," said Koziej, who advises President Bronislaw Komorowski on security.
"These elements - including a candidate for wartime commander-in-chief, who should be appointed soon - need to be trained."
Koziej said Russia was waging an "information war" on the West. "Without a doubt, Poland is already a target of Russian aggression in that respect ... It involves television channels, radio stations, activities of various (Internet) trolls on social networks."
"These are not spontaneous, individual activities, it's a coordinated and organised action, a managed campaign" he said.
Asked whether Poland was ready to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons, Koziej, who this month said arming Ukrainian forces was in the interest of Europe and Poland, said no decision had been made.
"Such talks are ongoing, the Ministry of National Defence frequently hosts Ukrainian representatives and experts."
"There are intensive talks on different levels, but ... decisions will be made only after the issue is thoroughly examined by the Polish and Ukrainian sides," Koziej said, adding that Poland was considering selling the weapons, but also in some cases supplying them for free.
This month, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechocinski told Reuters Ukraine's economy was starting to disintegrate, creating a risk of hundreds of thousands of immigrants flowing into Poland.
That risk was real, but not large, Koziej said, adding that Poland had to be prepared for being neighbours with a country that could be "barely functioning".
"Last year, we conducted special exercises, which tested ... whether we are ready for a potential influx of refugees. In this respect we are prepared for various scenarios."
Poland asks to buy Tomahawk missiles from US for new submarines
WARSAW, March 12 (Reuters) - Poland's Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said on Thursday he has asked the United States whether the European nation could buy Tomahawk missiles for its new submarines.
"One of the capabilities we want them (the submarines) to have is cruise missiles," Siemoniak told public radio, following a report by daily newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Siemoniak also said around 10,000 NATO soldiers will take part in military exercises in Poland this year, among them around 5,000 members of the so-called Spearhead, the newly created NATO quick-reaction force.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Lithuania has marked the 25th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in celebrations overshadowed by Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
Lithuanian independence leader Vytautas Landsbergis told lawmakers on March 11 not to take freedom for granted or "our success story may soon become a temporary success story."
Current President Dalia Grybauskaite urged Lithuanians to show strength and courage as "the rattle of the guns is heard" from the east.
Lithuania, now a member of NATO and the European Union, became the first Soviet republic to declare independence on March 11, 1990.
But it only achieved its freedom over a year later after a failed communist coup in Moscow.
Based on reporting by AP
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for today.