We would be a weak, dependent, subservient buffer country, torn apart by the interests of Germany and Russia. We were supposed to be defenseless and passive as the powers that rose to power pushed themselves apart at our expense. We would not be able to respond when Russia began to execute its war plan by attacking Kiev and then Warsaw. And all this would be a fact today if the Poles had taken different electoral decisions 8 years ago. On the 103rd anniversary of the heroic victory of Polish soldiers over the Bolsheviks in the Battle of Warsaw, on the anniversary of the Polish victory that saved Europe from the Russian Revolution, one must strongly realize that those threats are still valid. The greater the tribute to the soldiers of the Polish army and the defenders of the Polish borders on their day of vacation. Gratitude also goes to politicians who, like President Andrzej Duda and the United Right government, understand what sovereignty is and the importance of security. After all, it is no secret that the previous authorities disarmed the Polish army against the generals’ warnings.
“In my New Year’s message I said that the main Polish issue would be security. Anyone can see that this is absolutely fundamental. Because, as has happened so many times in our history, we are once again living in perilous times,” he said today President Andrzej Duda during a ceremonial parade, emphasizing that the defense of borders is one of the absolute foundations of independence.
From the first days, safety was the most important thing for me. That is why building a strong Polish army was and is the basis of my presidency! The past eight years have been the time of rebuilding the Polish army – strengthening Polish security
said the chairman. He recalled that the policy of his predecessors was to reduce the Polish armed forces, to liquidate many units, to withdraw the military presence in eastern Poland and to adopt plans to defend the Republic of Poland on the Vistula- line! “There is no going back to that misguided policy!” he stressed.
A timid approach to Russia and Germany characterized the Civic Platform government. They can be seen on all possible levels – political, economic, military. This was against the generals’ recommendations. He mentioned it recently General Darius Wronski pilot, former commander of the 1st Aviation Brigade of the Land Forces. “We currently have 160,000. army, and the plans for PO were to collapse the army to 60,000. I remember it perfectly from military briefings,” he said in an interview with the wPolityce.pl portal. His assessment is devastating to previous governments:
In my opinion, it is a great scandal that we have succumbed to this imaginary pressure from the West to disarm. Our politicians back then believed in what started quickly in 2014, that instead of strengthening the army with people and equipment, our decision makers came from Brussels and announced that there was no threat and that we would now disarm. There has already been an attack on Georgia, on Ukraine. And we rolled up the equipment and took out the units capable of defending the eastern borders.
There was deep consternation among the commanders. I, as commander at the time, did not understand it at all. There was threat and politicians made decisions with great nonchalance, I have no doubt about that now, controlled from the east. Reinforced by the decisions of Western politicians. Our politicians believed it and dismantled the Polish army
Although the threat increased, the PO government disarmed the Polish army, dismantled the border guards and reduced the number of uniformed services. He was not so much responding to signals that when Russia practiced a nuclear strike on Warsaw during the Zapad-2009 and subsequent maneuvers, the then head of the National Security Bureau, General Stanisław Koziej, completely ignored the matter.
Every army just needs to train its mechanisms. The Russians are practicing, you can’t be outraged that they are practicing or we’d be outraged that they have an army at all
he said. And the Russians were practicing. They practiced until their maneuvers smoothly turned into an armed invasion of Ukraine.
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Russia has succeeded in carrying out a cultural revolution that brings pacifism and lowers the guard on its banners. The West believed there was no enemy, no threat of war. Other countries decided to disarm. Poland broke out of this trend 8 years ago. President Andrzej Duda revisited the concept of the late President Lech Kaczynski. The PiS government also understood how serious the threat was. The new authorities focused on security from the start. Not only was the number of wars significantly increased, not only was the army modernized and equipped, not only were resources for maintenance increased, but respect for soldiers, which had weakened over the years, was also restored. The liberal-left media played a big part in this, weaving to this day their old narrative that “patriotism is like racism”. A story that is an important element of weakening the security of the country. We saw it perfectly during the invasion of migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border, even before Russia invaded Ukraine. That attack on the Border Guard agents, especially in the context of the earlier, prolonged attack on the police officers, was – we can clearly see it today – an element of state destabilization before the outbreak of the war. We would be divided, weakened by mass migration and unable to do anything for the attacked Ukraine. And while these things are obvious, some people still fall into lies and manipulation. It is impossible that they do not understand these processes. So why are they doing it? The president today called for accountability on this issue:
Let’s take an example from the fathers of our independence. The safety of Poland is the most important thing! And unfortunately, a lot of irresponsible voices, disrespectful words and even jokes about safety issues have appeared in the public space lately. And politics, responsible politics, cannot be reduced to ridicule, to jokes, to cheap popularity, to sensationalism. Politics can’t be about anything. Politics should be about something, it should have substance, it should implement what people consider important. It is the duty of politicians to take care of important matters! Like defending our borders, like strengthening our military, like strengthening our alliances! And today, in these difficult times, safety must be the main Polish issue! The safety of Poland, the safety of Polish women and men, our safety!
The slogan of today’s parade was “Strong White and Red”. Looking at the sea of white and red flags, at the huge crowds of people who came to see it and pay tribute to the soldiers of the Polish army on vacation, listening to the speeches of President Andrzej Duda or the Minister of National Defense, watching the presentation of military equipment, it can be safely said that this force has returned and will grow. One fact is most striking: for the first time, not a single piece of Soviet military equipment was present at the parade. This is an extremely important and very symbolic breakthrough!
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Source: wPolityce