Carrying out a border post inspection near the northern city of Elblag, which borders the Russian exclave region of Kaliningrad, Komorowski stated that Poland must "harness the potential of the border guard in case of the appearance of [Russian] 'little green men'." The president noted that border services must be beefed up and equipped with "state of the art equipment…to answer all sorts of crises," including the appearance of the Russian military, "before they become a reality."
The Polish president also claimed that Russian actions "against its neighbors resulted in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which now affects the security of all of Europe, of the whole Western world, including Poland's security." He noted that Poland "should draw lessons from the situation in Ukraine" and that the border guard should prepare "for difficult times ahead."
The president's increasingly hardline stance against Russia has been severely criticized by his political opponents ahead of presidential elections May 10. Magdalena Ogorek, presidential candidate from the social democratic Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the third party in the country's parliament, blamed Komorowski for the collapse of Polish-Russian relations, stating that the tone of his government's statements and his saber-rattling have worked only to "fuel mutual animosity."
Komorowski also recently called on EU nations to lift budget deficit spending limits in regard to defense spending.
Along with the Baltic states, Poland's conservative political establishment has been at the forefront among European nations in accusing Russia of invading Ukraine, something Russia has repeatedly denied for lack of credible evidence.
