Putin Tries it On with Poland and Aims to Drag Europe into His War of Conquest

Over the 250 years of incessant invasions of Poland by Russia, whether under imperial or Communist rule, including three partitions of Poland which had Polish territory moved to Moscow’s column, the watchword of Polish soldiers was always: “We fight and kill Germans for duty, but we fight Russians for pleasure.”

Perverse Russian traditions

For Russian leaders over the ages, the only safe border for the continent-sized(!) nation has been one that has Russian troops on both sides of the frontier with whatever the neighboring nation is.

In that sense, Putin’s latest act of escalation against European democracy – his aerial incursion from drones of Polish territory – was nothing new.

And those of the German Social Democrats

Although, given their shameful record of equivocating basically any Russian act of escalation, one must doubt the ability of Germany’s Social Democrats to call a spade a spade.

The fact that they are once again part of the German government makes their head-in-the-sand approach even more distasteful.

Putin trying to catch Europe off guard

The Russian autocrat took advantage of world attention on Netanyahu’s failed attack on Qatar to kill Hamas leaders in their beds to probe and test Poland’s air defences. He got a surprise.

Europe was ready. Italian and Dutch F35s scrambled to shoot down Putin’s drones. German Patriot missiles as well as surveillance and refueling warplanes ensured European mastery of the air.

OK, it wasn’t the Battle of Britain but, in provoking a fast and effective response in real time aerial warfare, Putin made sure that ever fewer people in Europe can doubt Putin’s plans if he is allowed to succeed in Ukraine. The Baltic States and even Poland are obviously next. The only good news is that Putin can no longer guarantee a walkover.

Smolar’s viewpoint

Gienek Smolar had been forced into exile as a Jewish intellectual by the Stalinist government of Poland as a 1968 generation student and returned to Poland when the trade union Solidarity ended communist rule in 1989. He subsequently ran Polish radio news.

According to him, the good news was “that no-one was killed” and the Polish government did not overreact as Putin had obviously wanted.

Belarus as invasion ramp

So, no more than a small skirmish in the skies over Poland which saw off a Putin’s drone attack? Not quite. Poland is shutting its borders with Belarus, now little more than a Russian colony, through which any Putin invasion of Poland would arrive.

Shortly, in the middle of September, the biggest land-war Zapad joint military exercises by Russia and Belarus, will take place.

Sikorski weighs in

Radek Sikorski, Poland’s Oxford-educated, current Foreign, formerly Defense, Minister, said the Polish government expects to see “very aggressive scenarios.”

The drills by Russian and Belarus troops could not only serve as a precursor to further aggression as part of Putin’s continuing strategy of tension. They also underscore Putin’s contempt for European leaders like Macron, Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“Before Russia invaded Georgia, it exercised. Before it invaded Ukraine, it exercised. Now it is exercising an invasion of NATO, and at the same time practicing the use of nuclear weapons,” Sikorski said.

“We Poles have learned over 500 years that when Russia threatens us, unfortunately it must be taken with deadly seriousness,” Skiorski declared.

Trump, supplicant of Putin’s Russia, playing Poland

As ever Poland holds its breath on whether President Trump will finally see that Putin has been playing him for years. Scant chance that Trump will decide to join with some European democracies in taking Putin as a serious menace to any stable world order.

The perturbations of Poland’s nationalist right

Poland’s nationalist right, which now control the Polish presidency, has generally been immune to the Angela Merkel or Nicolas Sarkozy view that Putin could be managed.

But the new Polish president Karol Nawrocki is a hard-right nationalist who has little feeling for Poland as a fully integrated partner in the European Union. He is no friend of Russia to be sure but he joins the still long list of European leaders who oppose Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nawrocki so far cannot even agree on a strong common policy involving sending the right weapons to Kyiv to take the war to Putin in Russian terriority rather than just batting defensively as Trump still refuses to break with his old Moscow mate, Vladimir Putin.

The EU and VDL to the rescue?

Putin’s attack on Poland happened to occur on the eve of the annual State of the Union address by the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to MEPs. She proposed that the EU funds what she called a “drone wall” and a space surveillance system for Europe’s Northeastern flank with Russia including the Baltic states and Poland.

She also backed the idea of using Russian frozen assets – some 300 billion Euros to issue a “Reparations Loan” to finance Ukraine in the future.

What about the UK as a factor?

There is massive Russian wealth barely hidden in London. However, seeking to protect their at least somewhat dubious sources of profits and wealth, the City and the Bank of England as well the banking establishment on the continent hates the idea of putting frozen Russian money to work to thwart Putin.

Britain is not in the EU, but MPs should look at how the UK can do more jointly with fellow European democracies to keep all of Europe part of the shrinking democratic world.