Poland has been suffering as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, 8 million Ukrainians have crossed the border into Poland, and the bulk of NATO aid is given through Poland, which has a 535-kilometer border with Ukraine.
Poland is acting as though it is gearing up for war, with the possibility of a fresh Russian spring attack in Ukraine on everyone’s mind.
Poland’s seemingly unending backing for Ukraine stems from a firmly held conviction that if Russia is not tamed, Poland would eventually become a target.
According to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, security worries have prompted Poland to modernize its army and increase defense expenditure to up to 4% of its GDP this year, the highest percentage among all NATO nations.
“If we don’t support Ukraine now, there will be new targets for [Vladimir] Putin,” said Paweł Jabłoński, the Polish deputy minister for foreign affairs. “A Russian politician recently suggested that Russia should ‘denazify’ six more countries after Ukraine, including Poland. What we do now, we do out of solidarity and in support of the victims.”
“The opinion throughout Polish society is that if Russia succeeds in Ukraine by claiming territory, whether in Kherson or Zaporizhzhia, there will be the next war, and another after that…,” said Łukasz Jankowski, a political journalist who covers the Polish Parliament. “The feeling is that our basic safety and our independence will be in danger if Russia wins.”
