Polish President Karol Nawrocki has held security talks in New York with the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia as world leaders gather for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.
Nawrocki met Estonian President Alar Karis, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs on Monday evening. According to the Polish president’s office, their talks focused on security challenges affecting Central, Northern and Eastern Europe.
The meeting forms part of Nawrocki’s visit to the United States for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. The four presidents also met in a similar format around last year’s UN gathering, and Poland and the Baltic states have continued regular consultations on regional defence and security.
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The Polish presidency did not announce a new joint initiative or communiqué following Monday’s talks, and its initial statement provided no detailed breakdown of individual security issues discussed.
The meeting nevertheless comes amid continued NATO efforts to strengthen its eastern and north-eastern defences. Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all host NATO forward land forces, while the alliance says its Eastern Sentry activity is intended to improve vigilance and deterrence across the eastern flank following repeated airspace violations, drone incidents and other security concerns.
The same four presidents have discussed those questions together before. At a regional meeting hosted by Nawrocki in Poland in June, the leaders of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — joined on that occasion by Romanian President Nicușor Dan — discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine, hybrid threats, air defence and reinforcement of NATO’s eastern border ahead of the alliance’s July summit.
Monday’s New York programme also included talks between Nawrocki and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The United Nations listed a meeting and photo opportunity between the two men for 4.05 p.m. New York time, and subsequent photographic coverage showed the meeting taking place at UN headquarters. No detailed public readout of the discussion had been issued at the time of publication.
Nawrocki’s office had also announced a meeting with Khalilur Rahman, president of the General Assembly’s 81st session. That meeting was still described as planned in the presidency’s latest published account, and Poland-24 had not found a subsequent official confirmation or readout at the time of publication.
The UN General Assembly’s general debate begins on Tuesday, 22 September, and runs until 28 September, with a break on Sunday. The United Nations says heads of state, heads of government and other senior representatives will use the debate to set out national positions on international security, development and other global issues.
Nawrocki is scheduled to attend the opening of the debate on Tuesday before delivering Poland’s national address on Wednesday, 23 September. The Polish presidency lists him as the first speaker in the afternoon session, with his address expected at around 3 p.m. New York time.
His programme also includes a meeting on Tuesday with the president of Burundi, who currently chairs the African Union, and a reception hosted by US President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Nawrocki is due to meet Kuwait’s crown prince before his General Assembly speech.
The New York visit therefore places Poland’s regional security agenda alongside a wider week of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, with Monday’s meeting with the Baltic presidents providing the clearest eastern-flank focus before Nawrocki addresses the General Assembly itself.
