Abstract

Abstract

On February 24th, 2022 Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, further deteriorating the already fragile global security situation. The outbreak of a conventional, large scale armed conflict in the 21st century Europe, has come as a shock to many and ultimately brought death and suffering to millions of people, with further tens of millions of people falling victim to economic instability and the threat of the inevitable economic crisis.

In difficult times like these people tend to reassess the values and priorities of global politics that might have otherwise been completely different in the peace time. This is clearly the case for the European continent, where the debate over closer European integration, especially in the field of economy, defence and supply chains have re-emerged with increased intensity.

The aerospace sector is a cornerstone, without which the economic prosperity, ease of travel and dozens of life-saving innovations would have been impossible. At the same time, it contributes to addressing global military threats. For all these reasons, the world’s most developed countries, including Italy, maintain a strong national aerospace sector.

In view of Poland’s exceptional pace of economic development, coupled with the deteriorating security situation on its eastern border, substantial efforts should be devoted to strengthening the Polish aerospace sector, both in terms of continuous modernization and capacity and know-how building through industrial and national partnerships. Italy and Poland should therefore increase their level of cooperation, sharing their know-how in all areas of the aerospace sector.

The aim of the 2nd Italian-Polish Aerospace Forum is to explore how these two countries can cooperate in the aerospace sector and what benefits such cooperation would bring to Poland, the Polish economy, Polish security and the development of national R&D skills.