The assessment was provided by the daily’s defence editor Con Coughlin, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
“It says a great deal about the impotence of the European Union’s response to the Ukraine crisis that Poland should have emerged as the bloc’s most effective cheerleader in confronting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin," the journalist wrote in his column.
‘A few months ago Brussels was seeking to demonise Poland’
Coughlin observed that “It was only a few months ago that Brussels was seeking to demonise Poland as a rogue state over accusations that it was violating the EU’s democratic agenda.”
He added: “Today, with Poland taking the lead role in condemning Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the EU’s attempts to humiliate the Poles appear ill-judged, to say the least.”
Poland ‘a lynchpin of West’s military support to Ukraine’
The Telegraph’s defence editor said that “while key EU states such as Germany and France have struggled to come to terms with the enormity of the challenge Mr Putin’s unprovoked act of aggression presents for the future of European security … Not only has Poland become the lynchpin of Western efforts to provide Ukraine with vital military support, it has been the uncomplaining recipient of millions of Ukrainian refugees, forced to flee their homes in the face of Russian brutality.”
‘Poland offered warplanes to Ukraine’
Poland has also been “at the forefront of calls for the West to provide a significant uplift in military support to Ukraine … one of the first nations to offer to supply Kyiv with warplanes,” Coughlin said.
He added that this gesture “went begging because of the Biden administration’s aversion to upsetting the Kremlin.”
Now Poland is “being made to pay” for its “uncompromising attitude” after “Russia announced that it was cutting off gas supplies,” the journalist wrote.
‘Russia’s blackmail is a badge of honour for Poland’
Coughlin argued that “for the Poles, Russia’s blatant attempts to blackmail them into dropping their support for Ukraine amount to a badge of honour.”
“It surely confirms that their contribution, both in terms of providing military and humanitarian aid, is making a tangible difference in thwarting Russian war aims,” he wrote, adding: “Poland’s staunch support for the Ukrainian cause is all the more surprising in view of the troubled recent history between the two countries,” dating back to World War II.
‘Poland’s support for Ukraine in stark contrast to Germany, France’
Coughlin also said in his column that Poland’s clear pro-Ukraine stance “certainly stands in stark contrast to the less-than-convincing performance of key EU players in Paris and Berlin who, far from mimicking Warsaw’s clarity of purpose, have failed to rise to the challenge presented by Putin’s invasion.”
The journalist went on to say: “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s painful refusal to support the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine for fear of provoking Moscow has undermined Western efforts to back Kyiv.”
He added: “And even when Mr Scholz finally gave a green light for Germany to sell Ukraine Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, it soon transpired that the deal would not include the missiles needed to shoot down hostile Russian aircraft.”
Meanwhile, “newly re-elected [French] president Emmanuel Macron has been accused of appeasement over his frequent contacts with Mr Putin, which he insists have been aimed at ending hostilities, but which critics say have simply provided Moscow with the diplomatic cover to maintain its murderous assault,” Coughlin wrote.
‘UK could learn from Poland’
"The British Government, too, could learn something from the leadership qualities demonstrated by the intrepid Poles,” according to Coughlin.
“Boris Johnson may have had a good war so far in terms of providing a much-needed sense of direction within the Nato alliance, but Downing Street’s efforts to date have been limited to offering defensive equipment and humanitarian support,” he said.
At the same time, Coughlin observed that “there are encouraging signs, though, that Whitehall may be preparing to follow Poland’s lead.”
“At her Mansion House speech last night, Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, argued that Britain and other Western powers should be prepared to provide Ukraine with warplanes and heavy armour,” he wrote.
He suggested: “A good way to start would be to rescind Washington’s ban on the plan, first mooted by Poland in the first weeks of the conflict, to give Ukraine 70 used Russian MiG-29 fighter jets.”
“It is weaponry that could decisively turn the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favour, and deter Mr Putin from taking any further acts of military aggression,” Coughlin concluded his column, as cited by the PAP news agency.
Thursday was day 64 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Poland on Thursday reported it had welcomed 3 million refugees fleeing Russia's war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, telegraph.co.uk