An accident ” unfortunate for Poland and NATO, which finally dismiss the thesis of a Russian missile: for Warsaw as for Western countries, the explosion which killed two people on Tuesday evening November 15 in Polish territory was probably caused by an anti-aircraft missile -Ukrainian airline. No risk, for the moment at least, of military escalation between NATO countries and Russia. But in Poland, this scenario remains in everyone’s mind. Interview with Andrzej Byrt, former Polish Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, and former Ambassador to France and Germany.
RFI: The thesis of a Russian missile has been ruled out, but do you fear, however, that an incident of this type could occur in the future, given the scale of Russian bombardments in Ukraine?
Andrzej Byrt: It cannot be ruled out that a Russian missile could unfortunately land in Poland, especially when we observe the latest Russian cruise missile strikes. The Russians do not have high-precision tools when it comes to long-range strikes, and one day a Russian missile may hit Poland, unintentionally.
NATO insists that in its eyes Ukraine is not responsible for this shooting, even if it was one of its missiles that hit Polish territory. Do you share this opinion?
For us it is clear that Ukraine is not responsible. Everyone in Poland knows it: Ukraine defends itself and it has the right to do so. It was the Russians who attacked Ukraine.
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Do the Poles have confidence in the solidarity of NATO? And in the fact that in the event of Russian aggression, they would immediately be supported by the allies?
Yes, I don’t think any other answer is acceptable. This is demonstrated by the now massive presence of NATO forces, including French forces, which are engaged to some extent in the Baltic countries.
Beyond the aid that can be provided by NATO, is Poland itself ready today to face Russia in the event of a worst-case scenario? And how does she prepare for it?
We are preparing for it, as are every member of NATO. We have made a number of large orders for new armament in different countries of the world. We must reinforce the anti-aircraft defense, the high-precision defense with armaments of the Himars type (American rocket launcher) or the Patriot batteries (anti-missile defense) that we have ordered from the United States. The three types of weapons we need to reinforce are aircraft, air defense batteries and long-range conventional strike force.
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Poland has been an unconditional supporter of Ukraine from the start of the conflict. Is this support as strong today?
For the moment, there is no sign of hesitation in this area. And this even if we, too, as in France or elsewhere, will suffer from soaring energy prices. We will also suffer the consequences of the Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Because, when many Ukrainian cities are without electricity, there will undoubtedly be a new massive wave of emigration. We don’t know when the big cold will arrive in Ukraine, but we are preparing for it. It cannot be ruled out that hundreds of thousands, even millions of Ukrainians, then try to find refuge outside Ukraine.