Australia wants Poland as close ally

The Australian government recognizing Poland as Europe's rising star has a desire to draw Poland more deeply into Asia and to ally with the folks down-under concerning global economic and security issues. The two governments have agreed to hold a foreign and defense ministers' joint meeting next year.

The Australian strategic assessment is that Poland is a rising power in Europe and set to be a leading player within European politics. Both the US and Britain are encouraging Poland to take more of a global role.

Poland is experiencing sustained high economic growth, has a stable government and society, and is producing genuine European leaders for high positions in the EU. Its European strategy is predicated on its intense political partnership with Germany and to some extent it is trying to achieve a status not wholly dissimilar to that of France.

Poland is also pushing its foreign policy beyond Europe and is competing for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2018-19. More importantly, it is almost the only European nation with a rising defence budget and has a strong history of contributing to peace-keeping and Western coalition military deployments.