Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that Europe has entered a precarious era akin to the period preceding a war, and said that no nation in Europe would be able to feel secure if Russia defeats Ukraine.
“I don’t want to instil fear, but war is no longer a concept confined to the past,” Tusk stated during an interview with European media outlets on Friday. “It has become a reality, and it began over two years ago.”
Tusk’s remarks come as Russia intensified its bombardment of Ukraine, launching a fresh barrage of missile strikes targeting the country’s infrastructure. Overnight, Ukraine’s air force reported downing 58 drones and 26 missiles. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal admitted that energy infrastructure in six regions across the country had sustained damage, leading to emergency blackouts and requests to limit power consumption.
Tusk pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin has already blamed Ukraine for a jihadist attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall without providing any evidence, in order to justify increased attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, and that Moscow had launched daylight hypersonic missile strikes on Kyiv earlier this week, a first in the conflict.
Several experts have warned that the Russia-Ukraine war, already into its third year, could continue for five or more years.
“We are living in the most critical moment since the end of the Second World War” where “literally any scenario is possible,” he said, recalling a picture on the wall of his family home in Poland that showed people laughing on a beach at Sopot, near Gdansk where he was born, on the southern Baltic coast, on 31 August 1939. A dozen hours later and 5 km away, World War Two began.
According to a BBC report, Tusk also expressed optimism over a “real revolution in mentality” across Europe, and praised several European leaders while underlining the importance of security cooperation. He also pointed to Sweden and Finland, once synonymous with neutrality, but now members of NATO.
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