In coordination with
All-American Rally in Support of Security of Poland and Eastern Europe
In Front of The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
Saturday, Jun 11th 2016 3:00pm
a simultaneous rally was held in Westwood, CA, in front of Federal Building.
Statement of United States Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Poland, was read by Leszek Pawlik, Polonia Institute CEO and event coordinator:
“Since joining NATO in 1999, Poland has been a critical and important component of the alliance’s robust and reliable partnership. Polish troops have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, answering the call for the alliance when asked, and Poland continues with hosting Operation Anakonda, a joint multi-national training exercise which is ongoing. Poland has become more than just a strategic partner – they are a close friend and ally in the cause for enduring peace and security throughout the world.
Today, as you gather in support of July’s Warsaw summit, be reassured that the United States and NATO continue to stand beside you, and ‘an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole alliance.’”
Edward Wojciech Jeśman, President & National Director, Polish American Congress of Southern California read his statement:
We are here to call for security of Central and Eastern Europe. This is appalling that 25 years after the fall of Soviet Union, after the West has won the Cold War, there are still two security zones in Europe: one in Western Europe, which has always been well protected, and the other one in Eastern Europe, which is not seriously defended at all. The second zone is protected by treaties and lip service only, and not by any real commitments, 
which require boots on the ground. What happens with treaties we all well know, we have learned the lessons of WWII, when Poland did not receive the military help, required and expected under the cooperation treaties signed with France and England; two, among the strongest militaries in the world. We do also remember the abandonment of Ukraine by the West when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, despite the US warranties of territorial integrity extended to Ukraine under the terms of Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances of 1994. All these treaties and memorandums, as our experience teaches us, were not worth the paper they were written on.
We are asking: Allow Poland to defend herself! Arm and modernize Polish Army! Please remember that security of Central and Eastern Europe also means enhanced security for the United States and the world. We call on the US presidential candidates to include security of Central and Eastern Europe in their election platforms as well as the future presidential policy on the subject!
We are asking also that a full NATO brigade under American command be permanently stationed in Poland. NATO bases were providing security to Germany and Western Europe during Cold War for 45 years; now is the time to extend the same treatment to Poland and the Baltics.
The event organizers, Natalia Kamiński, Wojtek Jeśman and Leszek Pawlik wanted to thank our Lithuanian guests and supporters, and express our gratitude to Maryte (Marija) Newsom.
