Kwaśniewski: Putin could lead to NATO and EU collapse

“I do not fear that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will want to expand his control of the region via military means beyond the Ukrainian border,” the former Polish president (1995-2005) told an interview with broadcaster TVN24 BiŚ.

He explained that this means that it is unlikely Russian troops will enter Poland, adding that Putin “can do much worse things than that.”

“Through his policies, and the lack of a unity in the West, [Putin] can lead to the collapse of two institutions which are the best guaranteers of our national securities: NATO and the European Union.”

Kwaśnieski said that if the Hybrid War were to move to the Baltic States – because they are the most at risk – and the Russian minorities in these countries were to decide to join Russia, as NATO-member countries, their reaction might cause a “crisis not seen since WWII”.

“If these countries were to react, that would lead to an international conflict,” the former president said, “while if they did not react, they would be abdicating, meaning that such an institution [NATO] did not exist.”

From the point of view of Polish national security, this is a key issue, Kwaśniewski said, adding that Putin has built a bridge into the EU via a partnership with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Kwaśniewski explained that Orban is a very dangerous reminder that the West has to worry about its unity.

Therefore, during Orban's Thursday visit in Warsaw, “Polish politicians should tell him that if he breaks the unity of the West, then he is a fifth column and can lead to the completely new era [for the Union].”

Orban will be meeting Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz in Warsaw on Thursday, following a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest on Tuesday. (rg)

Source: TVN24 BiŚ