“Weakness provokes, strength deters; we need to build our strength,” he said.

Sikorski also expressed his support for the creation of the office of EU Commissioner for Defense, as recently suggested by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

He also stressed that there were calls for the “creation of a combined command, a reinforced brigade to intervene on the Union’s periphery, but made up of volunteers from member states rather than subdivisions from member states.”

The Polish FM also warned against talking about a “European army” because “it gives the impression that we are going to merge national armies.”