Polish journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski caused a firestorm after sensationally claiming during an interview with publicly financed TVP that his country initially wanted Ukraine to lose to Russia. He was promoting his book “Putin’s Spies: How The Kremlin’s People Are Taking Over Poland” so it was predictable that he might speculate something of the sort. He’s being hypocritical though since he previously criticized the former conservative-nationalist government for their political Russophobia.
He wasn’t wrong at the time either since former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki boasted in March 2022 that Poland had set the global standard for Russophobia, which preceded him describing the Russian World as a “cancer” two months later that May. Morawiecki also presided over Poland increasing the US’ military presence on its territory, “de-Russifying” the energy sector, and turning Poland into NATO’s top logistics base for arming Ukraine.
In fact, outgoing President Andrzej Duda’s office coincidentally published a detailed report right around the time of Rzeczkowski’s sensational claim proving that Poland expended a whopping 4.91% of its GDP on arming Ukraine and providing for its refugees, the latter of which comprised the bulk of its expenses. Nevertheless, his office’s report also showed that Poland gave Ukraine more heavy weapons than any other country, with 350 of its 800 tanks coming from there.
So proud is Duda of this fact that he made sure to include his famous quote from August 2022 right at the beginning. He said that “At the beginning of the war, when it was really very difficult to get help for Ukraine, when everyone was afraid and reluctant, the Germans gave helmets, we gave tanks.” It’s therefore no exaggeration to say that one of the reasons why Ukraine didn’t give up during the first overwhelming phase of Russia’s special operation is because Poland swiftly intervened to support it.
For that reason, “Poland Was Just As Much To Blame As Britain For Sabotaging Spring 2022’s Peace Talks”, particularly because NATO wouldn’t have been able to continue arming Ukraine if Poland refused to function as its top logistics base for indefinitely perpetuating the conflict like the neocons wanted. Accordingly, Rzeczkowski couldn’t be more wrong in claiming that his country initially wanted Ukraine to lose, but his lie served a hyper-partisan agenda and that’s likely why he spewed it on public television.
To explain, the ruling liberal-globalist coalition revived its predecessor’s “Russian influence commission” earlier this year that it previously criticized when it was out of power, which it did for the same purpose of smearing their opponents. They want their candidate, which will either be Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski or Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski as decided upon by this month’s primary, to replace Duda instead of one of his fellow conservative-nationalists.
Sikorski earlier went as far as justifying this commission on the false pretext that any politician or activist who supports traditional values, is against illegal immigration, and questions any aspect of the Ukrainian Conflict might be operating under the Kremlin’s influence. With this in mind, Rzeczkowski’s lie about the former conservative-nationalist government initially wanting Ukraine to lose was likely meant to fuel this witch hunt, with the ultimate intent being to influence the presidential election.
What’s most ironic about his lie and Sikorski’s ridiculous claim is that it’s the latter’s own liberal-globalist coalition that’s curtailing aid to Ukraine precisely at the moment when it’s most needed in order to prevent a Russian military breakthrough before Trump is reinaugurated and tries freezing the conflict. Just like Rzeczkowski wasn’t wrong when he pointed out the prior government’s political Russophobia, however, neither is the current government wrong in refusing to continue arming Ukraine for free.
Poland received absolutely nothing in exchange at the expense of depleting its entire stockpile, only to then be excluded from the Ukrainian endgame after President Duda wasn’t invited to last month’s Berlin Summit where the future of this conflict was discussed. Moreover, Ukraine insolently refuses to exhume and properly bury the Volhynia Genocide victims’ remains despite doing so for the Wehrmacht long ago, hence why Poland finally decided to finally offer it a loan for more military equipment instead.
Rzeczkowski wouldn’t dare accuse the ruling liberal-globalist coalition of wanting Ukraine to lose nor would Sikorski investigate himself and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which shows how absurd their associated statements about the former conservative-nationalist government are. The takeaway for casual observers is that Poland is in the throes of its own Russiagate scandal, and just like its inspiration across the Atlantic in America, this one is also nothing but a politicized witch hunt.
