On July 11-12, 2023, representatives of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation and the Warsaw Security Forum took part in the NATO Public Forum, an event accompanying the North Atlantic Alliance Summit in Vilnius. The Foundation was one of the official partners of the Forum.

“Our goal was to support our Ukrainian friends in receiving an invitation to join NATO as soon as possible,” points out Katarzyna Pisarska, chairwoman of the Warsaw Security Forum conference.

During the NATO Public Forum, she led a panel with the Commander of NATO Forces in Europe, Gen. Christopher Cavoli. Within the partnership, Katarzyna Pisarska has also facilitated the official Summit High-Level Women’s Breakfast, attended by over 20 Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense.

“It was one of the most interesting Summits of the Alliance that we followed. We know from behind-the-scenes conversations that negotiations on the final shape of the final statement lasted until the very end. Therefore, support and pressure from non-governmental organizations and the expert community were also important” – indicates Tomasz Smura , Member of the Management Board of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation.

The NATO Public Forum was an official accompanying event of the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The event was attended by NATO Secretary General, Presidents of Lithuania and the Czech Republic, the Prime Ministers of Canada, Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands and Albania, and the ministers of foreign affairs and defense, as well as numerous politicians, military and experts from the Alliance and partner countries. 

The participation of the Foundation’s representatives in the Forum was preceded by a high-level study visit to Kyiv, with the official WSF delegation including, among others, two former foreign ministers from Poland and Lithuania. During the three days in Ukraine, expectations of the Ukrainian side regarding NATO membership and security guarantees from Western countries were discussed.