Warsaw, 15/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Poland has welcomed the fact that the new strategic approach of NATO, to be approved by the NATO heads of state and government on Saturday, has defined the relationship between the EU and NATO as strategic, the Polish defence minister Bogdan Klich told the press on Saturday 13 November. In a speech to the committee on defence of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Warsaw the same day, the Polish defence minister laid particular emphasis on the need for “regular and substantial dialogue” between the two institutions and for building up their cooperation on the theatres of operation. Against this backdrop, Klich repeated the idea of a new legal framework, “a reinforced Berlin + agreement”, which would define practical cooperation between the EU and NATO, particularly when the two meet on the same theatre of operations, such as in Kosovo or Afghanistan. Laying out Poland's position in this relationship, Klich openly supported the EU. “Poland is trying to combine the security which NATO provides with security which could be provided by the EU”, he said, stressing the fact that Warsaw was in a position to agree to “a number of overlaps (between NATO and the EU), if they are necessary and useful to the EU”. A permanent planning “cell” at the EU, which would coordinate the civilian and military efforts with a view to future operations, could constitute a positive development, he said. (A.By/transl.fl)