Europe | The frontline state

Why Poland has become NATO’s linchpin in the war in Ukraine

The West no longer dismisses its warnings about Russia

|PRZEMYSL

POLISH LEADERS have long pushed their partners in NATO and the EU to forge closer ties with Ukraine, warning of the risk of Russian aggression, only to be dismissed as paranoid. Russia’s murderous and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has proven them entirely right. Polish denunciations of Russia’s imperial ambitions, which Americans and western Europeans once pooh-poohed as post-communist stress disorder, have now become standard NATO talking points. But it is not just Poland’s view of Russia that is being taken more seriously; it is Poland’s role in the world. In a matter of a few weeks, the country has become the linchpin of the Western effort to defend Ukraine and deter Russia, a task as important as it is dangerous.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The frontline state”

The Stalinisation of Russia

From the March 12th 2022 edition

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