Europe is “under assault from Russia,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said on Friday, with hybrid attacks ranging from political murders and cyberwarfare to acts of sabotage and weaponized migration.
At a press conference in Berlin, Sikorski said that Poland’s term holding the rotating EU presidency would be “focused on security,” with the country feeling “vindicated” that its repeated warnings of the threat emanating from Moscow having proved correct.
Almost three years on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sikorski highlighted the multifaceted attacks being perpetrated by Russia on European soil, including a notorious 2019 assassination in Berlin and “political murders” in the United Kingdom.
“In other countries, there are acts of sabotage: in the Czech Republic, in Lithuania, in Poland,” he said, referring to instances of arson, threats, and disruption to infrastructure that have caused alarm across Eastern Europe in recent years.
The events can be directly linked to Russia’s GRU intelligence service, argued the 61-year-old, who previously served as Poland’s defence minister. “We have caught the people who were recruited by the GRU, and instructed and paid money for setting places ablaze.
“Russia’s assaults on European security have also been taking place online for many years, Sikorski said.
European countries are under “constant cyberattacks,” he warned, while further mentioning “meddling” in the Brexit referendum.
Events in Romania – which saw the first round of its presidential election annulled in December after the unexpected victory of a little-known pro-Russian candidate – must serve as a “wake-up call,” Sikorski underlined.
“Someone paid for a social media campaign on his behalf,” he said.
Poland has also faced an additional threat from “weaponized migrants” on its eastern border, Sikorski argued, describing the issue as “a hybrid operation conceived by Russia and Belarus.”
The strategy behind the wave of Russian attacks is, for Sikorski, evident: “[Russian President] Vladimir Putin is clearly provoking us, and trying to manipulate our electoral systems and our institutions for the sake of restoring Russian control over the territory of another country, and also for the sake of destroying the Western alliance.”
The foreign minister said that the best response for Europe was to “get serious about European defence.”
“Strength deters, weakness encourages,” he added.
Sikorski: Poland is ‘Ukraine’s best friend’
European countries have invested heavily in their militaries since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, with 23 NATO members reaching the target of spending 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence last year, up from six in 2021.
Poland has led the way, as Sikorski said, with defence spending forecast to hit 4.7% of GDP in 2025. “I hope that others in NATO also increase their spending, because Vladimir Putin is at 8[%] or more.”
With regard to the war in Ukraine, Sikorski said that there was no sign of a ceasefire.
“Putin thinks he’s winning, and the war will only end when Putin stops fighting,” the minister said.
Until the conflict concludes, the potential deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine remains a “hypothetical discussion,” he said.
He also rejected the idea that Poland could mediate in the conflict, as the country’s stance is not neutral.
“We are Ukraine’s best friend,” Sikorski said. “And we regard Putin’s Russia as a hostile country.”
