The Prime Minister of Poland points out that the Russian threat to peace had grown over the years, given the passive attitude of a large part of European political elites.
"Europe stands on the brink of war today. Armed conflict is no longer an unlikely scenario. It has become a real possibility. For many generations of young Poles and Europeans, the outbreak of war has never been such a close prospect. For years, the West wanted to believe that the 21st century would be conflict-free. However, recent years have provided much evidence that Russia's aggressive stance, including in Georgia or Ukraine, is not an illusion, but a harbinger of a new chapter in the history of the Western world. Russia is once again trying to violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Questioning the borders of a sovereign state means one thing, an attack on European peace," - stressed Mateusz Morawiecki.
"Russia's policy, with all its madness, is painfully rational. For the third year we are engaged in an extremely difficult battle with the pandemic and the economic crisis, and at this exact moment we receive an additional blow from our eastern neighbor. Vladimir Putin plays out European weaknesses and crises with cynical precision. Unfortunately, a large part of the European elite specializes in putting on blindfolds to protect them from the brightness of Russia's resurgent superpower ambitions," - writes the PM.
"The list of leaders and political leaders who chose Russian rubles and a career in Kremlin companies give a headache. Everyone knows the case of Gerhard Schröder, who turned his political career into earnings in Russian energy companies. But his case is only the tip of the iceberg. In the long list of collaborators of Gazprom, Lukoil, Rosneft, and companies building Nord Stream 2, we find former chancellors, prime ministers, heads of diplomacy, presidential advisers, and ministers," - he adds.
"According to Putin, Ukraine is an inseparable part of the Russian world. In turn, building independence and a separate identity in this view becomes not only a mistake, but even a provocation. For Vladimir Putin, there is no room for a free and independent Ukraine. This means that Putin's Russia does not have a respect for peace and international law. Putin's goal seems clear, to make the West give up its support for Ukraine and leave it to Russia."
PM Morawiecki adds that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline proves that Putin's scenario has its supporters in Europe. Thanks to it, Gazprom will control gas flow in Europe, making supplies dependent on political decisions. "This project is unacceptable not only from the geopolitical point of view but also from the economic one."
