The ruling PiS party claims it knew the war in Ukraine would break out, while the opposition, which appeared to have been partly “engaged” in the Kremlin’s plan, went so far as to take steps to sabotage the country’s preparations for a potential Russian attack.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Poland has committed to about €3 billion in assistance, making it one of the EU’s top donors regarding military, humanitarian and financial aid. On the global scale, Poland ranks fifth, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker.
“We knew that war in Ukraine was about to break out,” Kaczyński told the right-wing weekly Gazeta Polska in an interview. “Some analyses suggested that the (Russian) activity targeted at Ukraine was a smoke screen, while the actual target was the North. Over time, the situation became clearer and more obvious,” he added.
Kaczyński believes the Russian side was taken aback by the Polish government’s resolute reaction to the attack on Ukraine and the preparation for a potential invasion of Poland. In his view, the Polish opposition did not help in this preparation.
“I am as gentle as possible: it looked as if it (the opposition) was partly engaged in the (Kremlin’s) plan,” he added.
Previously, Kaczyński sparked a minor diplomatic crisis between Warsaw and Berlin by responding to Germany’s offer to deploy Patriot batteries in Poland with a suggestion the German government should send the US-produced anti-missile systems to Ukraine.
The German Defence Ministry rejected the proposal, citing NATO reasons. Kaczyński then accused Berlin of the unwillingness to stand up to Moscow in defence of Ukraine. At the end of the day, Poland accepted the offer of Patriots deployment.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
