“Russia has brought war back to Europe,” declared Minister Radosław Sikorski during a speech in the lower house of the Polish parliament on Thursday. “We have to prepare for a conflict of a similar scale to what our grandparents and great-grandparents experienced,” he addressed his compatriots, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocký.
According to the head of Polish diplomacy, the situation is serious. “Awareness of danger can paralyze or mobilize. But we must not allow ourselves to be paralyzed. Passivity or reliance on others is an invitation to escalation. As is shouting that this is not our war,” Sikorski said a few days after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.
Trzaskowski showed the “underground shield” of Warsaw residents
The fact that the Poles are aware of the risk of the expansion of the military conflict in Ukraine is also documented by a video published last week by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski. He explained that the metro in the capital also fulfills the function of an “underground shield” for residents.
Trzaskowski showed how they have prepared dining sets, thermoses, sleeping bags, stretchers and field beds in the shelter for the people of Warsaw. The town hall also started equipping shelters in the subway with electricity generators.
When Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine four years ago, Aktuality.sk investigated. Bunkers are on the edge of interest.
Experience with Russian hacking
“History throws us into deep water,” Radosław Sikorski said today, among others. “Europe will be shaped in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted to these crises,” the head of Polish diplomacy recalled the words of Jean Monnet, who is considered one of the fathers of the European Union.
Sikorski is convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to divide Poles through sabotage and sabotage, which many EU countries face. The minister recalled the drones that the Russians sent to Poland and the attempts to attack the Polish railway.
Let us remind you that the Czechs also have experience with the malicious activities of the Russian secret service GRU. Just remember, .
The Polish minister emphasized that the Russians are not only resorting to force actions, but also to attacks in cyberspace. Poland experiences two to three thousand cyber attacks every day. Even if the Poles manage to reflect most of them, according to Sikorski, the scale of this phenomenon should be worrying.
He also stated that the Kremlin will not back down in intimidating and dividing the Poles and will test the borders of our northern neighbors. According to the minister, the resilience of society would be helped by equipping residents with the knowledge of how to protect themselves from the dangers of the Internet.
Sikorski: Putin does not want peace
“Putin does not want peace, but capitulation,” Sikorski commented on the situation in Ukraine. In free Ukraine, which is part of the West, he sees Poland’s “chance to pull out the teeth of Russian imperialism.” The head of Polish diplomacy claims that if Ukraine lost, the threat from Russia would not decrease, but would increase.
“Let’s imagine what would happen if Putin’s tanks were stationed in Medyka near Przemyśl (on the Polish-Ukrainian border west of Lviv – ed.). We would have to spend much more money to strengthen the defense of our own territory than it costs us today to help Ukraine,” he emphasized.
While government politicians in Slovakia do not publicly talk much about how many weapons and ammunition we sell to Ukraine, Sikorski openly mentions the sale of 54 Krab self-propelled howitzers for approximately three billion zlotys (700 million euros). According to the minister, this is the largest export contract in the history of PGZ (Polish arms group).
For comparison, last year Aktuality.sk reported on for Ukraine. Also about how a weapon system of Slovak production.
To Putin and Trump
“Putin will bankrupt Russia, just like Brezhnev,” Sikorski added. He argued with the fact that Russian companies have lost access to Western markets as a result of sanctions, and spending for war purposes consumes up to 40 percent of the Russian state budget
The head of Polish diplomacy acknowledged that relations between the EU and the United States have worsened recently. “This is a particular challenge for Poland. Cooperation and close ties with the US have been a pillar of our foreign policy for decades, regardless of who sat in the White House, which party held the majority in Congress, who ruled Poland, but it is not Europe that makes territorial claims, imposes arbitrary tariffs or intervenes in partisan rivalries on the other side of the Atlantic.”
According to Minister Sikorski, Poland’s security is strengthened by two organizations – the EU and, above all, NATO. “Each of them has a different role. They don’t compete, but complement each other,” he added.
Sikorski announced that Poland is further prepared to serve as a regional hub for US forces. Our northern neighbors are not opposed to hosting bases, missions, exercises and maintaining key equipment for NATO’s eastern wing. They welcome them.
“The presence of American troops was and is perceived as an asset, not as a threat. Contrary to Russian propaganda, NATO did not ‘expand’ to Central European countries. It was the countries of our region, including Poland, that sought membership,” the Polish minister emphasized.
