Europe is already under attack from Russia, Polish foreign minister says
Pravda Ukraine
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that Europe is “under attack from Russia” and that hybrid attacks range from political assassinations and cyberwarfare to acts of sabotage and arson.
Source: Radosław Sikorski in an interview in Berlin; European Pravda citing the dpa news agency
Details: Sikorski said that Poland will be “focused on security” during its EU presidency in the first half of 2025, and that the country feels “justified” because its repeated warnings about the threat posed by Moscow have proved correct.
Nearly three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, Sikorski highlighted the multifaceted attacks Russia is carrying out on European soil, including the infamous 2019 Berlin assassination and alleged political assassinations in the UK.
“There are acts of sabotage in other countries: in Czechia, Lithuania, Poland,” Sikorski said, citing the arson attacks, threats and destruction of infrastructure that have raised alarms across Eastern Europe in recent years.
Quote: “Russia’s attacks on European security have also been taking place online for many years.”
Details: He said European countries are under “constant cyber-attacks”, citing interference in the Brexit referendum.
The events in Romania, where the first round of the presidential election was cancelled in December after a surprise victory by a little-known pro-Russian candidate, should be a “wake-up call”, Sikorski said.
Quote: “Someone paid for a social media campaign on his behalf.”
Details: Poland also faced an additional threat from “armed migrants” on its eastern border, Sikorski stated and described the problem as a “hybrid operation conceived by Russia and Belarus”.
The strategy behind the wave of Russian attacks is clear to Sikorski: “Vladimir Putin is clearly trying to provoke us and manipulate our electoral systems and our institutions to restore Russian control over the territory of another country, as well as to destroy the Western alliance.”
The foreign minister said that the best response for Europe would be to “take European defence seriously”.
Quote: “Strength deterred, weakness encouraged.”
Background:
- On 15 January, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a joint press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia was planning terrorist attacks against Poland and international airlines.
- Previous media reports citing Western security officials have revealed that Russia intended to cause fires on cargo and passenger planes bound for the United States and Canada.
- The media also reported that packages containing incendiary devices that went up in flames at DHL distribution facilities in Germany and the United Kingdom had been mailed from Lithuania, with the sender using a false identity.
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