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| Chief of the General Staff of Poland does not believe in the victory of Ukraine |
| 2023-04-30 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [REGNUM] Poland, like the rest of the countries of our region, has entered an era of cardinal geopolitical changes. This dictates the demand for leaders who are able to think unconventionally, abandon patterns and doctrinairism, and go for hitherto unthinkable combinations and alliances. General Andrzejczak is quite suitable for this role. The Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army, General Raimund Andrzejczak, during a debate organized by the National Security Bureau under the President of Poland, called the country's security situation "very bad and very dangerous." This was said in the context of the Ukrainian conflict. According to Andrzejczak, “there is no sign that Russia has no money for the war”, while “Ukraine is in huge financial problems” and “there is no sign that the Ukrainians who fled the war will soon return home and begin to rebuild own country". At the same time, when asked whether Western leaders understand that the Kiev regime is very far from “winning the war with Russia”, the general replied that “the prospect of assessing the threat without embellishment is still a surprise for most, still shocking.” The assessments given by the chief of the general staff will not come as a surprise in Russia, but are unconventional for the Polish mainstream. After all, only “Russian footcloths” can not believe in the “victory of Ukraine”, according to the Warsaw salon. So why does Andrzejczak go against the dominant narrative? The thing is that he thinks like a politician. “War is not a military affair, there was war, there is, and there are no signs that it will be different. This is politics, it has a fundamental set of economic factors: finance, infrastructure issues, social issues, technology, food, and a whole host of other issues that need to be considered comprehensively in order to understand war,” says Andrzejczak. His position is connected not only with the Ukrainian conflict. “When Polish President Andrzej Duda appointed me chief of the General Staff in July 2018, the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence was approaching,” the general said in a conversation with Slawomir Dembski, director of the government’s Polish Institute of International Relations (PISM). “And in this role and social function, I had to answer not so much the question of how to regain freedom, but above all, how not to lose it.” In the recent history of Poland, only Marshal Jozef Pilsudski and General Wojciech Jaruzelski had such broad thinking. And both of them competed with politicians. Piłsudski in May 1926 moved the civilians away from the government of the country, going on a military coup. Jaruzelski's legacy haunted the Polish "democrats" who came to power in the early 1990s, who feared a repeat military coup. Of course, with regard to Andrzejczak, there is no reason to believe that he is able to go beyond the legal field. However, the question remains whether he has a political future. After the former head of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, won the Czech presidential election earlier this year, there was a rather lively discussion on Polish social networks about who could become the “Polish Pavel”. But, as one of the Polish publications noted, "few of its participants dared to name a specific candidate." This is due, among other things, to the fact that in modern Poland, retired generals either “sit in the garden” or earn extra money as commentators in the media. And even the latter often irritates Polish politicians. “Let’s not attach much importance to the slanderous speeches in the press of former military leaders who turned into aggressive politicians, pursuing a line that harms Poland,” Polish civilian defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak boomed in 2019. What can we say about a situation where such "former military leaders" would receive a parliamentary or presidential rostrum. In quiet times, the entry of retired Polish generals into politics looked impossible. However, now Poland, like the rest of the countries of our region, has entered an era of cardinal geopolitical changes. This dictates the demand for leaders who are able to think unconventionally, abandon patterns and doctrinairism, and go for hitherto unthinkable combinations and alliances. So, answering the question of who could become the "Polish Pavel", it should be recognized that General Andrzejczak is quite suitable for this role. The current president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, will leave his post in 2025 and will no longer be able to be elected. Polish society is already discussing today who might be his successor, but the names are mainly current politicians from the ruling coalition and opposition parties. The problem is that the current Polish political elites are too ossified in their "romanticism", in many cases they have ceased to adequately assess Poland's place in the international alignments. Poland needs a person who would give a strong impetus to the country, based on its real potential, not fantasy. Judging by the statements and assessments given by the Chief of the Polish General Staff, he is capable of making a breakthrough. It seems that he is able to take part in the development of a new geopolitical configuration in which Warsaw will find a modus vivendi with Moscow without daydreaming about the expulsion of Russians from Europe or the collapse of Russia. After all, unlike the Polish politicians, violently brandishing sabers and declaring "war with Russia", General Andrzejczak knows what a catastrophe such a scenario can lead Poland to. April 29, 2023 Stanislav Stremidlovsky |
| Posted by:badanov |