Polish President: Ukraine is Defending Poland and Europe, Too

Polish President Andrzej Duda believes that Russia poses a threat to Europe.

In an interview Monday, August 1, 2022, with the German daily news site Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he said that Ukraine is effectively defending the entire continent, not just itself.

“Today, Ukraine is defending Poland and Europe, including Germany. If Ukraine’s heroic resistance fails to beat Putin’s imperialistic plans, Poland and the Baltic states will be exposed to the direct threat of Russia’s expanding sphere of influence in Central Europe.”

Duda also contends the idea of “Russia-the-Great” translates into the subordination of other nations, adding that this notion applies not just to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, but to a substantial chunk of Russian society as well, with “[Russian] journalists insisting that Russia stretches as far as the Polish city of Kalisz.”

“Thanks to Ukraine, this threat today is contained. In the future, however, I believe that it will be on the agenda,” he said. “The only thing we can do is to enhance our security. Ukraine is showing what one can do when armed well.”

Duda, who visited Kyiv in late May to underscore Warsaw’s support for embattled Ukraine, also stressed that Poland is providing significant military assistance to Ukraine. To date, it has sent Ukraine over 260 T-72 tanks.

Last week, the Polish Minister of Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, who visited Kyiv last month, signed an agreement on the supply of south Korean weapons to the Polish army, including jet fighters FA-50, K2 tanks, and K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers.

Previously on May 25, 2022, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Russia’s multi-pronged military aggression against Ukraine has turned the modern geopolitical scene upside down, adding that Russia is carrying out a “special genocide operation” in Ukraine. He also warned other countries from resuming business as usual with Russia.