Warsaw (AP) -Since February last year, 8 million Ukrainians have crossed the border into Polish territory, and the bulk of NATO aid is delivered through Poland, which borders Ukraine for 535 kilometres. Faced with the prospect of a renewed Russian offensive against Ukraine in the spring, Poland is acting as if it were preparing for war.
If Poland’s aid to Ukraine seems endless, it comes from a deep-rooted belief that if Russia is not defeated, Poland itself will become a target. , Poland has modernized its armed forces and increased defence spending to 4% of GDP this year, the highest percentage among NATO members.
“If we don’t support Ukraine now, it will become another target for Putin,” said Poland’s undersecretary of foreign affairs, Pawel Jablonski. “Russian politicians recently suggested that after Ukraine, Russia should ‘de-naz’ six other countries, including Poland. I am doing it for.”
Another concern is that the Russian military will consolidate the territories it has seized from Ukraine and “form a government like Minsk”.After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Alexander of Belarus in 1997 • The international agreement between Russia and Belarus, signed by President Lukashenko, laid the foundation for the union between the two former Soviet republics. Although the two countries remained independent, Lukashenko has always supported Russian military initiatives without participating directly.
Some in Eastern Europe fear that Russia will eventually target the Baltic states if the war in Ukraine drags on. “This war is not about Ukrainian territory, it’s about the independence of Eastern Europe. That’s why we need to support Ukraine, and this support must have no borders,” Jankowski said.
Eight million refugees flooded across the border into Poland after last year’s Russian invasion, but many eventually moved to Romania and Moldova, while others returned home. The recent arrival brings the total number of Ukrainians living in Poland to 3.37 million. “You can meet Ukrainians in any Polish city. There was no ghettoization. Their integration was almost seamless, and today Ukrainians make up 8% of Poland’s total population,” Jablonski said.
The history of both countries is not without dark episodes. During World War II, Poles became victims of ethnic cleansing by Ukrainian nationalists, who deported thousands of Ukrainians. Decades later, starting in 1995, former Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski and Ukrainian President Leonid Koucma achieved a historic and formal reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine. Is there an element of self-interest in Poland’s extensive aid to Ukraine? Poland’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Jablonski denies the idea, arguing that the first priority is to defend Ukraine and Central Europe against a resurgent Russia. bottom. “In 2021, Russia has asked NATO to withdraw from Central Europe. We will be happy if our international standing grows while helping Ukraine win the war,” he said.
When it comes to Ukraine’s integration into the European Union, Polish politicians and observers have no illusions. “I know there is corruption within the Ukrainian regime, but Poland (which joined the European Union in 2004) can help with that know-how,” Jankovsky said.
