World

Warsaw's Concerns Over Alleged Russian Threat Are Senseless - Ex-Polish PM

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Poland's concerns over alleged military aggression by Russia do not make any sense as Moscow does not even have a pretext for an offensive against the country, former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller (2001-2004) told Sputnik in an interview on Saturday.
Sputnik

"I believe that Russia will not intervene in any NATO states. None of the NATO countries is threatened by aggression on behalf of Russia, as aggression with regard to at least Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia or Poland means a war with all of NATO and, consequently, World War III. Nobody will go for it, neither in Moscow nor in Washington or Brussels," Miller said.

He recalled that there weren't even arguments that Russia could use as a pretext for an invasion of Poland.

"There are no territorial disputes between Poland and Russia. In Poland, there is no Russian minority that Russia would like to support. Poland has nothing, in terms of natural resources, that Russia does not have. And so why would Russia attack Poland?" Miller argued.

READ MORE: 'Not Very Clever' Move: Ex-Polish PM on President Duda Not Congratulating Putin

According to the politician, relations between Moscow and Warsaw cannot be improved without an impulse given at the highest level, noting, however, that there were no signs of change.

"The situation is very bad. The last event that should have been organized a few years ago — the year of Russian culture in Poland and the year of Polish culture in Russia — has not taken place. So we can say that relations have been put on hold… Without some impulse at the highest level in Poland as well as in Russia nothing will change as the Polish policy is based on anti-Russian sentiment," the former prime minister indicated.

He added that anti-Russian sentiment had tacitly become a part of Poland's official state doctrine, bringing relations with Moscow to their current levels.

READ MORE: Trump Pressures NATO Allies in Brussels

Poland, Britain Prepare for Two-Front Political Crusade Against Russia, Germany
The issue of an alleged military threat from Russia has recently gained momentum in Poland and so the government has decided to sharply increase the number of Polish servicemen and proposed allocating up to $2 million for the deployment of a US armored division on its territory.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it would never attack any NATO country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that NATO was well aware of the fact that Russia did not intend to attack its member-states and is using the issue as a pretext for increasing its military presence near Russia's borders.

Discuss