The document is the annual assessment published ahead of the Munich Security Conference, one of the world’s main foreign‑policy and defense gatherings held every February in Munich, southern Germany. The organizers say the upcoming conference, starting on Friday, will focus on repairing what they call a “crisis of trust” in transatlantic relations and on Europe’s ability to act more independently. Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland and the Baltic states, remain the area most exposed to Russia. The new report cites intelligence assessments that Russia could “reconstitute its forces for a ‘regional war’ in the Baltic Sea area within two years of a potential ceasefire in Ukraine – and for a ‘local’ one against a single neighbor within six months.” The authors say this prospect means governments must speed up force generation, expand ammunition stockpiles and strengthen host‑nation support, including logistics and infrastructure, as well as military mobility for allied troops stationed or rotating through countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Poland a rising actor Poland is singled out as a rising actor in Europe’s emerging “leadership coalitions” that aim to push defense industry reform and shape EU policy on Ukraine. The report notes that “smaller avant‑gardes, such as the Weimar Plus countries (France, Germany, Poland and the UK) or the European Group of Five (the former plus Italy), will be essential to drive defense industry consolidation, articulate a coherent European vision for Ukraine, and prepare the EU for enlargement.” This makes Warsaw a key voice on capability planning and post‑war security arrangements for Kyiv.