WARSAW, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Poland seeks to initiate regional cooperation in territorial defense,– Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Wednesday, while opening the meeting of commanders of territorial forces from 13 countries in Warsaw.
The new initiative of Poland, includes 13 countries, two of them from outside the European Union, namely the United States and Israel, aims to build a platform to "exchange experiences, share training resources, and exchange information on threats," Blaszczak said.
"International cooperation, drawing from the experience in creating territorial defense structures from more advanced countries, exchanging experiences and increasing training potential are very important factors that will serve to strengthen our common security," the minister stressed, calling this type of forces “"an effective response to modern security threats, such as hybrid war."
The meeting, aimed at exchanging experience, information on threats and troops training, is held between Oct. 9 to 11 as part of the European Territorial Defense Regional Cooperation Initiative.
Since 2017, the Polish Territorial Defense Forces have been operating as a separate type of armed forces. Its main tasks include cooperation with operational forces, protection against the effects of natural disasters, search and rescue operations and implementation of tasks within the crisis management.
According to the Polish Defense Ministry, 17 Territorial Defense Brigades will be altogether created in Poland. Currently, more than 14,000 people serve within the Territorial Defense structures, including over 11,000 volunteers and 2,400 soldiers.
