2022-08-08 14:36 update: 2022-08-11, 14:45
Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara
Poland’s prime minister has attacked Germany saying that if Europe had adopted the German speed of delivering weapons to Ukraine the war would have ended “long ago” with a Russian victory.
In an opinion piece published in Euroactiv, Mateusz Morawiecki argued that the EU should maintain its policy of unanimity because to abandon it would mean allowing the bloc to come under undue German influence.
This, he argued, would have dire consequences for Ukraine and the rest of Europe because it could encourage Russian imperialism.
The Polish prime minister highlighted Germany’s apparent slowness at supplying arms to Ukraine as an example of what he considered to be the baleful influence of Poland’s western neighbour.
"If all of Europe would send weapons to Ukraine on the same scale and at the same pace that Germany did – the war would have ended long ago," wrote Morawiecki. "It would have ended with Russia’s absolute victory. And Europe would be on the eve of another war. Russia, encouraged by the weakness of its opponents, would move on."
Morawiecki added that "if all of Europe would follow Germany’s voice, not only Nord Stream 1 but also Nord Stream 2 would have been launched for many months. Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, which today serves Putin as a blackmail tool against the entire continent, would be almost irreversible".
Furthermore, the head of government said that had "all of Europe accepted the German presidency’s proposal in June 2021 to hold an EU-Russia summit – it would end up with the recognition of Putin as a full partner and the lifting of those sanctions that were imposed on Russia after 2014."
"If this proposal – blocked back then by Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – had been adopted, Putin would have gained a guarantee that the EU would not take any real action in defence of Ukraine’s territorial integrity," he added. (PAP)
