“Putin wants to rebuild his empire. (…) Finally Donald Tusk understood, after years of reset (…) actually a bit dictated by our Western partners,” said Marcin Przydacz on Telewizja wPoland.
Without Poland there is no safe eastern flank
President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday, on the 25th anniversary of Poland’s entry into the North Atlantic Alliance. Marcin Przydacz, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Head of the International Policy Office of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, was asked about this joint visit on Telewizja wPolska – in an interview with Dorota Łosiewicz and Bartosz Łyżwiński.
READ MORE: President Duda and Prime Minister Tusk have already arrived in the United States. Together they will meet the American leader
It is in Poland’s interest to take a unified position with the United States on security issues. And there is no shortage of these threats; a war has been going on on our eastern border for two years, so it is in the interest of the Republic of Poland to strengthen the Polish-American alliance so that Poland’s role in NATO increases. , and for this we also need a coherent voice from the main representatives of the Polish state, and this role in NATO has actually increased significantly over the past two or three years. The fact that President Biden invites Poland to the 25th anniversary of the first NATO expansion (…) and does not invite others shows the role Poland plays today – after eight years of rule by the United Right – on the eastern flank of the NATO, and also plays in American policy. Without Poland there is no safe eastern flank
– emphasized Przydacz.
According to him, today Poland is no longer just a consumer and recipient of security, “but a provider of security for the entire region.” “This is how Washington sees it,” he noted.
There can be no ‘free riding’
President Andrzej Duda pointed out in his message before leaving for the US that Poland spends more than 4%. GDP for maintaining and modernizing the military, and this is the highest rate in the entire Alliance. The President believes that it is necessary to increase the level of defense expenditure of all Allied countries from 2 to 3 percent of GDP.
READ MORE: President in his speech: We need unity, unity and unity again on important decisions regarding security investments
Some countries – including Germany – do not meet this condition, which was set many years ago, namely 2%. GDP. There can be no ‘free riding’. We must all take care of our NATO and Euro-Atlantic security. It cannot be that some people trade with Russia, buy gas from it, build critical infrastructure – despite criticism, despite calls – and then, among other things, for this money, for gas, Vladimir Putin, after arming his army , attacks other countries and destabilizes the eastern flank, the costs will fall only on Ukraine or on Poland as a border state. Today we demand this solidarity especially from those who bear greater responsibility for our security and who have larger economies
– he pointed out.
According to him, the president’s demand to increase defense spending “before the Washington summit, which is only a few months away, is very justified” and perhaps “this will motivate some Western countries to spend more.”
Has Donald Tusk finally understood?
Przydacz also referred to the words of Donald Tusk, who stated that “the times of peace and silence are over, the post-war era is over. We are in the pre-war era.”
After the attack on Kiev, no rational person can rule out a situation in which Vladimir Putin tries to destabilize other countries. Whether it is the Baltic states or other countries in the Central European region. Putin wants to rebuild his empire, he is pursuing a neo-imperial, neo-colonial policy. If we look at the history of Russia, whether Tsarist or Soviet Russia, it was always an empire when it dominated Central and Eastern Europe. This is the main goal of Vladimir Putin, it is good that Donald Tusk finally understood it, after years of reset (…) actually a bit dictated by our Western partners, today he understands that this threat is much greater
– said the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Przydacz also expressed hope that Tusk “will draw specific conclusions from this.”
He himself says that no one can beat him in Europe. Well, Mr Prime Minister, you must go to Berlin and convince your colleague Scholz or Merz from the CDU to focus on security.
– Przydacz appealed.
He added that the United States is our most important partner and “if Donald Tusk understands this, he should really invest in these relations, but at both Democratic and Republican levels.”
READ MORE: Marcin Mastalerek: Donald Tusk has insulted half of the American political scene. These are irresponsible words and he should never have done it
Instead of insulting Donald Trump, we should keep in mind that this man could become president of the United States again and that it is not in Poland’s interest to have bad relations with any American president.
– emphasized Marcin Przydacz.
READ MORE: Irresponsible! Sikorski attacks Trump and appeals to ‘Polish nationalists’. Storm on the Internet. “The Scourge and the Hypocrite”
Watch live television in Poland:
in Poland/cat
Source: wPolityce