Expert explains the origins of Poland’s hostile behaviour towards Belarus
The Polish authorities are full of ideas about expanding their sphere of influence, which is why Warsaw is pursuing such an aggressive policy towards Minsk – as stated by political scientist Aleksei Belyaev, when commenting the words of the Head of the Main Intelligence Department – Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Major General Ruslan Kosygin, that Poland demonstrates imperial ambitions, enlisting the support of the White House, as he talked with Alfa Radio
The guest of the studio stated that Poland in Europe is the instigator of worsening relations with Belarus and Russia.
“Since joining the European Union, Poland has always been primarily a satellite of the United States and has promoted the American agenda, which does not quite coincide with the European domestic agenda. Poland’s claims to the revival of its influence, the dream of a new Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the unification under its control of countries from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea... Poland seeks to position itself as the main force in the region. It is a fairly serious counterbalance to Germany, France, Italy and often enters into polemics with them. Polish authorities adhere to conservative views in domestic politics. From the point of view of security, they make serious statements and actions. The Poles openly declare the need to increase their army to 300,000 people. They have always supported and continue to insist on the need to open an American military base on Polish territory. Literally in spring, they began to buy new American tanks, replenishing their armed arsenal. They actively support Ukraine, supplying it with weapons and facilitating the flow of various kinds of mercenaries there. There’s also diplomatic support, and we can even talk about a formal association. The leaders of Poland declared that there should be no borders between Poland and Ukraine. At the same time, they received carte blanche from [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy – the Poles were granted special rights, opportunities to hold public office in Ukraine. All this, of course, is an indicator of how far the Polish elites are ready to go in the issues of expansion.”
“We are witnessing extremely aggressive, hostile rhetoric towards Belarus on the part of Polish officials,” the political analyst continued. “In fact, any contacts have been terminated. Poland has become a haven for representatives of the Belarusian opposition, whom Warsaw maintains and supports. That is, the fifth column is being formed there. They certainly have claims to Western Belarusian territories. They have their eyes on the Grodno and Brest regions.”
As far as the relations between Russia and Poland are concerned, they have long been characterised as hostility between two empires, one of which didn’t succeed, the political scientist said. “Poland has a lot of complexes about this, so it behaves aggressively, impudently, and shamelessly. For example, there were statements from Warsaw recently about the need to supply nuclear weapons to Ukraine, to which the presidents of Belarus and Russia were forced to react and declare that the Russian Federation would supply Belarus with missile systems [Iskander-M], which could potentially carry nuclear weapons as well. This was discussed as an element of countering the Western threat. Meanwhile, those in Europe turned everything upside down and began to say that Belarus is threatening them. However, it’s necessary to look where it all started from the beginning. This is all a reaction to the statements and unfriendly actions of our opponents.”
