Most Poles oppose sending Western troops to Ukraine – media
A vast majority of Poles are opposed to deploying NATO troops to Ukraine, Euractiv reported on Wednesday, citing a survey by the Public Opinion Research Center (CBOS).
Almost three-quarters of respondents (74.8%) said they do not want to see the Polish Army or any other NATO country’s military become directly involved in the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
The prospect was initially raised by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said in February that the West “cannot exclude” the possibility of NATO forces being sent to Ukraine. His comments sparked a wave of denials from senior officials in member states, including the UK, Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden, who insisted that they harbor no such plans.
Macron, however, stood by his remarks, adding that there were “no limits” to Western support for Kiev. He received some backing from Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said in March that NATO forces being deployed to Ukraine was “not unthinkable.” The survey cited by Euractiv showed that only 10.2% of Poles would support combat troops being deployed to Ukraine.
Last week, Sikorski also announced that NATO was creating a “joint mission” to expand the scope of its support for Ukraine. He clarified, however, that this “does not mean that we are going to war,” and that the initiative was aimed at better coordination of the bloc’s military aid for Kiev.
Another poll conducted by CBOS in mid-March showed that Poles were concerned about a potential Russian attack on NATO, with 57% of respondents considering the possibility to be fairly realistic, with 14% calling it “very probable.”
About one-third of Polish people held the opposite view, but only 4% felt that a Russian attack on NATO was “completely unlikely.” That survey involved 1,089 people across Poland.
Moscow has consistently denied having plans to attack the US-led bloc. President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia “has no interest … geopolitically, economically or militarily ... in waging war against NATO.”
Russia has warned, however, that deploying NATO troops to Ukraine would put the bloc on the brink of a full-blown conflict with Moscow and “one step shy of a full-scale World War III.”
Euractiv did not provide any information about the timing of the latest Polish survey or the number of respondents.
