President Biden visit to Poland today spotlight that country's importance
to the military and humanitarian effort in Ukraine for more on that
we turn to Nick Schifrin.
Poland has long considered itself a frontline state against Russia.
And since Russia launched its war in Ukraine, no country has become
more important to Western efforts to repel Russia's invasion and
to help millions of Ukrainian refugees to talk about Poland's role.
I'm joined by Stephen Mull the former U. S. Ambassador to Poland
from 2012 2015 during Russia's first invasion of Ukraine.
Is now the vice provost for global affairs at the University of Virginia.
Even more welcome to the news hour. How important has Poland become
in the US in NATO's efforts to respond to Russia's invasion?
Well. Good evening, Nic. It's good to be with you. Poland, of course,
is always been the most strategically important country on Datas
Eastern flank since it joined in 1999.
But during the current invasion of Ukraine, it's become central to
the whole crisis. First of all, because of the long border it shares
with Ukraine. It has a very uncomfortable front row seat.
For the invasion going on, and it makes our Polish allies very nervous.
They share a 330 mile border with Poland, and not only that, but
that Polish border is the principal conduit for the increasing numbers
of weapons that the United States is sending to the Ukrainian armed
forces.
Going the other way. It's the main conduit for more than two million
refugees that have fled the fighting in Ukraine, so as the conflict
moves closer to the west of Ukraine, which it seems likely to do
It's going to be increasingly in a critical spot that we need to
pay close attention to. So let's first consider those weapons shipments
that as you say, many of which are going through Poland into Ukraine.
Russia vows to hit to target that weapons supply line that goes through
Poland. Why is Poland willing to take the risk?
Well, it is a big risk for our Polish allies. But they're willing
to take it because they think it's probably the lesser of two evils,
the other evil being next in line to be attacked by the Russians,
So it is an existential security interest for Poland to make sure
that the Russians are stopped and
Ideally removed from Ukraine, and they're willing to risk just about
anything to contribute to stopping the Russian advance towards its
own borders. The other part that you mentioned, of course, are the
refugees flowing from Ukraine into Poland. Human rights organizations
in the past criticized Poland for not allowing enough Middle Eastern
Refugees. But Poland has opened its arms society and government to
these to these Ukrainians who are coming into the country. Why? Well,
I think there are a couple of key differences between the refugee
crisis that happened with Belarus last summer and fall and what's
going on right now.
The Polish government believed that those refugees from the Middle
East and from Central Asia that were coming through
Through Belarus, primarily to the Polish border were being sent as
a means of destabilizing Poland's relationship with the rest of Europe
and were in fact being weaponized by the Belarussian authorities,
probably with Russian government support.
Ukrainians are fleeing from Poland and Ukraine's common adversary
Russia, which of course, has a centuries long history of occupying
and dominating Poland.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian community has been quite large in Poland
over the past few years between a million and two million Ukrainians
have become an essential part of the Polish economy even before this
invasion started.
It's a community that's assimilated very well into Polish society.
They're essential to the Polish economies operations, particularly
in the service sector. And finally, Poles feel a real moral obligation
to help their Ukrainian neighbors because they believe they have
that common adversary and they believe that they need to help them.
To make sure that when they are in trouble, others will help them
to European Union has accused Poland's ruling party Long Justice
Party of eroding Judicial Independence Law and Justice Party has
also been criticized for eroding media freedom and LGBTQ rights is
Warsaw's democratic backsliding being papered over.
Because of Poland's importance to the war.
Well. Those are concerns that the vitamin ist rations definitely
has had about the human rights situation. In Poland. There has been
some democratic black sighting in Poland. But now that this crisis
has happened
It's almost as if the house next door to Poland has suddenly caught
fire. And while Poland certainly needs to, maybe correct the dry
rot that's going on in its own house, putting out the fire next door
suddenly become much more dangerous threat to democracy, not only
in Poland but really throughout all of Europe.
So concentrating on the most urgent emergency that's on Poland's
front doorstep right now doesn't mean that we're less concerned about
the other problems that you mentioned. And finally, Poland is pushing
for a permanent presence of US and NATO troops, who up until now
have been rotating into Poland back to back that permanent presence
would go against.
Promises that NATO made to Russia in the late 19 nineties. Why is
Poland pushing for a more enduring guaranteed US deployment? Well,
they believe that since the end of the Cold War, and since Poland's
accession to the NATO alliance that they in effect have become the
frontline of the NATO alliance and the key to security for the entire
alliance.
So they believe that that requires moving the U. S military presence
that had existed in Germany and other places to the West required
moving those troops farther to the east, where the threat most likely
will originate. And in fact, the past month we've seen there right.
That is where the threat primary threat to NATO is originating.
In fact, I think it's likely the increased numbers of US troops we've
seen in Poland are there for the foreseeable future.