1ST LEAD Britain, Poland to agree on deal to counter 'Russian disinformation' By Bill Smith, dpa

London (dpa) - British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Poland on Thursday to agree to planned deals on countering "Russian disinformation" in eastern Europe and expand bilateral defence and cybersecurity cooperation.May was also expected to raise concerns with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki over judicial independence in Poland, after the European Union issued a formal warning on Wednesday over the erosion of rule of law by Warsaw.She received a state welcome from Morawiecki at Warsaw‘s Belvedere Palace ahead of an annual summit of British and Polish leaders, including foreign, defence and finance ministers.May‘s office, Downing Street, said she was expected to announce a new Britain-Poland treaty on defence and security co-operation.It said she also planned to agree to "improved UK-Poland cooperation to counter Russian disinformation in the region, including through new joint strategic communications projects."Britain and Poland will each contribute 5 million pounds (6.7 million dollars) to build capacity to "detect and counter Russian information operations" and support to Belsat, a Polish-funded television channel providing "unbiased, free and frank reporting for Belarusians.""I am determined that Brexit will not weaken our relationship with Poland. Rather, it will serve as a catalyst to strengthen it," May said in a statement ahead of the visit."And that is why I am in Warsaw today, to ensure that we can work even more closely together to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead," she said.May said the planned defence treaty would be "a powerful symbol" of the two countries‘ "continued close cooperation.Speaking to BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme earlier Thursday, Daniel Kawczynski, a lawmaker from May‘s Conservative party, said he had discussed the trip with May and did not expect her to condemn Poland publicly for the controversial judicial reforms launched since the Law and Justice party (PiS) came to power two years ago."I have asked the prime minister to stand by our loyal Polish allies facing an unprecedented attack by a poorly informed, malign and unaccountable EU Commission," Kawczynski, who chairs an all-party parliamentary group on Poland, wrote on Twitter.