Failure in Ukraine could end Western ‘golden age’ – Polish PM
Not everyone in the EU wants to support Ukraine as much as Kiev requires, yet the country’s future is key to Western prosperity, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has insisted.
“Failure in Ukraine could be the beginning of the end of the golden age of the West. Ukraine’s victory is a guarantee not only of reconstruction, but of strengthening of our economic power,” the politician declared on Thursday, in a speech hosted by NATO's weapons industry-funded Atlantic Council adjunct.
Poland prides itself on being one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine against Russia. According to Morawiecki, all Western nations want Kiev to prevail, but “not necessarily to the same extent”. Some politicians in Western Europe “want a quick ceasefire almost at any price” he claimed.
The Polish prime minister believes that Russia’s goal in the conflict is to “destroy Ukraine … so that Ukraine cannot be a base for enhancing the West.” The country’s existence is “crucial to contain Russia,” he added, claiming that “if Russia wins, we will be next.”
The Russian leadership stated that its primary goals in Ukraine were to curb a growing threat to national security posed by NATO’s creeping expansion into its neighbor and to stop Kiev’s attacks against the people of Donbass.
Morawiecki touted Poland’s centuries-long history of hostilities with Russia as a source of his expertise on the Russian mindset.
“Imperialism, colonialism and nationalism is not merely a passing affliction of Moscow’s soul. It lies in its core,” the politician stated.
Defending Ukraine has ramifications for other brewing conflicts, particularly the US-China stand-off over Taiwan, Morawiecki reasoned. While Beijing has strongly protested against Washington’s growing involvement with the self-administered island, US officials claim that China could take Taiwan by force.
“You need to support Ukraine if you want Taiwan to stay as it is,” Morawiecki said, criticizing EU politicians who believe that Taiwan is not within their sphere of influence.
“If Ukraine falls, if Ukraine gets conquered, the next day China may attack Taiwan,” he predicted.
Beijing’s stated policy is to seek peaceful reunification with the island, but it does not rule out military action to prevent separatism.
Morawiecki dismissed the notion of EU strategic autonomy, saying that people promoting it are really pushing the economic bloc into greater dependency on China.
“We have to rebuild the world order, renew NATO and restore peace,” he stated, explaining his nation’s vision of the EU’s future.
