Comment by kstenerud
15 days ago
Yes, and that's half the problem. The only ones taking this seriously are the Latvians, Estonians, and Lithuanians (although the Finns and Poles finally woke up to it last year - also why Poland upped its military spending to 5%). The Estonian military reports are particularly enlightening, and Timothy Snyder offers background into the why.
> although the Finns and Poles finally woke up to it last year - also why Poland upped its military spending to 5%
Poland has been warning about Russia at least for over 14 years now, since before Crimea annexation for sure. It started with Russia invading Georgia, I think.
Likewise, Poland has also been meeting NATO spending quota for years, upping it even more these days.
Poland refused to let another gas pipe from Russia through its territory without it going through Ukraine too, because it was obvious Russia would use it as leverage against Ukraine. This is what actually led to NS project which, for the same reason and this time additionaly because of the risk of creating leverage against other CEE countries, Poland refused to participate in and had been instead alarming that NS will result in troubles with Russia and security of Europe and Ukraine in particular.
Poland has been raising the issue of not only Ukrainian, but Georgian situation too. Many people forget, that Russia has been occupying parts of Georgia for over 16 years now.
Poland, despite paying penalties for that and being called racist etc., has been also blocking illegal immigration influx on its border with Belarus due to it being a hybrid war of Russia against Europe.
If anything, Poland did not sleep over Russia's plans. Quite the opposite, actually.
Yes, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Poland has been asleep at the wheel. They have indeed been warning about Russia's intentions, although using the Western manner of speaking that accomplishes nothing (not that I blame them - there is little they can do to move the European political center, and getting too shrill would backfire). But no one has been warning as loudly about it as Estonia. Unfortunately, nobody listens to the Baltic countries, or even hears a word they say.
No problem! Nevertheless, saying also that only Baltics take Russia issue seriously is just wrong.
I understand your frustration, though. Nobody listened to Poland's warnings about consequences of NS either.
For instance, I remember when Dutch society changed their mind on Nord Stream and Russia, but only after MH17 was shot down. Until then, they didn't seem to care too much about what NS will result in. Other countries supported NS even longer.
And look how it ended up. For all of us.
Unfortunately, nobody listens to the Baltic countries, or even hears a word they say.
The people who voted for the winner in the recent US election obviously don't. It's doubtful they can find the Baltics on a map.
But in Europe at least, that's definitely not true.
Europe spent half the previous century ravaged by two world wars stemming in part from suppositions, paranoia and alliance networks. Never forget that.