Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that the world needs to be “mentally getting used to the threat of another war” and has called on Europe to arm itself.
Tusk’s comment was made in an interview for the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, which was also published in a number of other European papers.
“We are living in the most critical time since the end of WWII,” he said. “The next two years will determine everything.”
According to him, there was no reason for Europeans to not respect NATO’s unofficial goal of member states spending a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defense.
He said that he understood why not all countries wanted to follow Poland’s lead on this, but expressed surprise at the reluctance to hit the target.
“We are spending 4% of our GDP on defense, but I know that our situation is more difficult than the one of Spain or Italy. But the 2% is an absolute must. I don’t understand how one could question that.”
The PM went on to say that protecting Ukraine against Russia and maintaining its status as an independent and integral state should be a priority.
He said, “The future of Ukraine lies in our hands. I’m not talking solely about Poland or the EU but of the entire West.”
“Whether Ukraine manages to evade pessimistic scenarios is dependent on us. Today its situation is way more difficult than a year ago, but also a lot better than at the beginning of the war, when Putin’ssoldiers stood on the outskirts of Kyiv.”
“We are living in the most critical time since the end of WWII,” he said. “The next two years will determine everything.”
According to him, there was no reason for Europeans to not respect NATO’s unofficial goal of member states spending a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defense.
He said that he understood why not all countries wanted to follow Poland’s lead on this, but expressed surprise at the reluctance to hit the target.
“We are spending 4% of our GDP on defense, but I know that our situation is more difficult than the one of Spain or Italy. But the 2% is an absolute must. I don’t understand how one could question that.”
The PM went on to say that protecting Ukraine against Russia and maintaining its status as an independent and integral state should be a priority.
He said, “The future of Ukraine lies in our hands. I’m not talking solely about Poland or the EU but of the entire West.”
“Whether Ukraine manages to evade pessimistic scenarios is dependent on us. Today its situation is way more difficult than a year ago, but also a lot better than at the beginning of the war, when Putin’ssoldiers stood on the outskirts of Kyiv.”
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