Polish defense: Serious risk of war with Russia within 3 to 10 years

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Sep 23:37
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A possible war with Russia means that the Defense ministry should begin to ready itself militarily.

Polish servicemen take part in military exercises outside the town of Yavoriv near Lvov, Ukraine, September 19, 2014 (Roman Baluk/Reuters)

Polish Deputy Defence Minister Marcin Ociepa said on Wednesday that Poland is seeing serious risks of war with Russia within 3 to 10 years from now, and should profit from the remaining timespan to ready its military forces.

"There is a serious risk of war with Russia, which we will face in 3-10 years," Ociepa was quoted by Polish newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna as saying.

Ociepa added that this possible outcome will be relative to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Referring to the time frame, Ociepa noted that Poland expects that it will take Russia exactly that many years to restore its military potential, adding that Poland should spend this time on a complete modernization of its army, regardless of expenses.

"We should use this time to fully re-equip the Polish army... Our task is to find this money and spend it well," the minister said.

In July 4, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that once Finland and Sweden join NATO, the Baltic Sea will be under their full control.

"The Baltic Sea is essentially poised to become NATO's internal basin. Two very powerful nations with a long and strong military tradition will become part of NATO soon, extending the Russia-NATO border by 1,400 kilometers [870 miles]," Duda said during a national security council meeting.

In April, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance may increase its presence around Sweden and the Baltic Sea to "protect the country from Russian meddling during a potential membership application."

While NATO, in June, conducted military drills coinciding with the decision to increase troop presence in Europe to 300,000, Russia has also been conducting military drills in the sea.

On August 10, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that Washington will be conducting more military exercises with Baltic nations such as Latvia, as it offers more military training. He further added that the US may bring in more troops if needed to support the region against Russia.