Would NATO beat Russia in a war? Of course, Poland FM warns – POLITICO

“Putin’s only hope is our lack of determination,” he warned.

Western allies and senior military officials are increasingly concerned about a possible spillover of violence from Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as the Russian leader continues to issue veiled nuclear threats to against the West and hides atomic weapons in Belarus, a country bordering NATO members. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Sikorski returned to his post as foreign minister after Tusk’s success in last October’s elections, eliminating Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party after eight years in power. Since then, Tusk’s center-right administration has attempted to undo years of PiS policies, pledging to restore democratic norms in the country and improve relations with Brussels.

Tusk recently warned that Europe was in a “pre-war era” but still had “a long way to go” before it was ready to face the threat ahead. And recently, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Poland was “ready” to host nuclear weapons on its territory if NATO decided to strengthen its eastern flank.

On Thursday, Sikorski criticized the former government’s foreign policy, calling it “a series of flawed ideological assumptions, bad ideas, bad decisions and omissions.” This led to financial losses, a “loss of credibility and prestige”, a deterioration of external relations and pushed Poland “to the margins of the most important debates within the European Union and NATO”.

While the previous government chose the “confrontational path”, the new government will have different priorities, Sikorski said, envisioning Poland taking over the rotating EU presidency in the first half of 2025.

“Poland’s development and security must rest on two pillars: transatlantic cooperation – maintained regardless of the decisions of American voters – and European integration,” he said, hinting at the possibility of a return at the White House of Republican candidate and NATO skeptic Donald Trump. and the potential impact on the transatlantic military alliance.

Poland is quickly becoming a defense heavyweight and the 14th highest military spender, having increased its spending by 75% between 2022 and 2023 to $31.6 billion, data shows published this week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.