Posted on 11/26/2018 1:48:59 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
Krzysztof Szczerski, chief foreign policy adviser to Polish President Andrzej Duda, was speaking after the Ukrainian navy said Russian special forces had seized three of its ships in the Sea of Azov on Sunday.
"We consider the situation serious because it may have far-reaching consequences for both the internal politics of Ukraine and the entire region," Szczerski told Poland’s PAP news agency in an interview.
The Sea of Azov is bounded by Ukraine to the north and west, and by Russia to the east. To the south it is linked by the Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea.
The Polish foreign ministry has urged Russia to respect international law and condemned Moscow’s “aggressive actions” in the Sea of Azov.
Amid escalated tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the foreign ministry in Warsaw called in a statement for restraint on both sides.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenews.pl ...
If the US had done something like this, the entire planet would have lost its mind.
I don’t see how this affects Poland.
Except if it escalates to a full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (refugees), even then I would bet money that Russia stops short of Polish/NATO territory.
But worst case is escalation in eastern Ukraine. Maybe a referendum like in Crimea.
Another problem for Ukraine is their far west, where several million Hungarians live, and which used to be part of Hungary until 1920. There are rumblings of succession there too.
But Poland is safe.
Some Poles would love to take back Lwów.
Of course then the Germans would want Breslau and Danzig back.
Probably best to let those sleeping dogs lie.
Yet another Venus flytrap for Russian Trolls. lmao
What most leaders throughout history fail to consider is the reactions of players they didn’t think would be involved A leader thinks, “I’ll do X and achieve Y.” What happens is, he does X and a half dozen other players immediately react to cancel out X. This is how the world entered the two world wars in the twentieth century. Each action triggered a multitude of reactions, most of which were never considered by the original actor. (A similar idea is, a battle plan never survives first contact with the enemy.)
If Russia sets one foot into Poland, NATO has to act.
Just who will come to Poland's aid in that or harsher scenarios? Western Europe's militaries are so impaired by budget cuts and internal security challenges as to be little able to project power, while their economies increasingly rely on Russian oil and gas.
Poland is thus offering the US a military base in Poland and billions of dollars for infrastructure improvements. Ever mindful of Russian aggression, Poland is also developing new capabilities to protect its territory and to do battle in Ukraine if need be. Meanwhile, Poland continues to take in large numbers of immigrants from Ukraine.
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