CTV
News Power Play
Exclusive interview with Polish PM
Mateusz Morawiecki
Jan 26
Poland and Canada foster support for Ukraine from DAY 1;
allied solidarity must prevail over Putin's Russian barbaric
aggression; coordination of military aid to Ukraine incl.
Leopard2 this & more in an interview of Polish PM
MorawieckiM for CTV_PowerPlay VassyKapelos
https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2617297
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told CTV
News: 'Better late than never'
He applauds West for sending tanks to Ukraine (video)
'Better late than never': Polish PM Morawiecki applauds West
for sending tanks to Ukraine (video)
Canada is joining several other allied nations in sending
tanks to bolster Ukraine’s forces in its continuing struggle
with Russia, a move that is welcome news to Poland, a
country which has been vocal in the need for Western allies
to send more support to Ukraine.
Germany agreed earlier this week after a series of talks to
allow Poland to send some of its German-made Leopard 2 tanks
to Ukraine. On Wednesday, Germany and the United States
announced that they would also be sending battle tanks to
Ukraine, marking the first stage of a coordinated effort to
provide more significant weapons to Ukraine.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told CTV News
Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos in an exclusive
conversation on CTV’s Power Play that he believes defending
Ukraine’s right to remain a free and sovereign nation is
imperative in preventing further aggression by Russia.
“Russia's weapon is fear,” he said Thursday. “Our weapon
should be and has to be solidarity.”
The full conversation is below and has been edited for
clarity. The interview was taped before Canada's
announcement that it would be sending tanks to Ukraine.
Vassy Kapelos: I wanted to start off on the subject of
battle tanks and specifically Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine.
Are you, Prime Minister, surprised at how long it took
Germany to give countries like yours the green light to
export those tanks?
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki: It took quite a while,
but I'm very glad that finally we were able to convince our
allies and partners from Western Europe that they should be
much more active in supporting Ukraine. Poland and Canada,
we were very active from day one when the war started, but
it's very important that this is a coordinated effort of all
of us. So yes, I am glad. I would say it's better late than
never. And I am now organizing, or I tried to organize,
several other countries to join this -- let's call it a
coalition of Leopard 2 countries -- to be delivered to
Ukraine.
Kapelos: Is Canada among the countries you are hoping join
that coalition, sir?
Morawiecki: I hope so. I know Canada is quite active in
supporting Ukraine. I know there's quite a population of
Ukrainians (living) in Canada. And it's very important that
the free world is in full solidarity supporting Ukraine. I
also heard that Prime Minister Trudeau decided to dedicate
some 200 armored vehicles. And this is very important
because the war is of such a nature in Ukraine that such
vehicles are badly needed. This is exactly what President
Zelenskyy was telling me several weeks ago. But also on top
of armored vehicles, modern tanks are very important,
extremely important on this battlefield in Ukraine. So I do
hope that Canada is going to be even more generous in
Canadian supplies for Ukraine.
Kapelos: You spoke a minute ago about the efforts to
convince allies, for example, in Western Europe, to also
follow Poland's lead and be willing to send some of their
tanks. What do you think has been the key driver of being
able to convince them to do so, how have you been able to do
so?
Morawiecki: Well, first of all, we try to lead by example.
Poland sent 250 tanks as the first country half a year ago
or even more than that. Right now, we are ready to send 60
of our modernized tanks, 30 of them PT-91. And on top of
those tanks, 14 tanks, Leopard 2 tanks, from in our
possession. And we have said to our partners in Western
Europe how many tanks we've already delivered, and I have
quoted President Zelenskyy (to explain) how important it is
in in this kind of war to have modern tanks. Russians have
several thousands, or some say even more than 15,000, of the
tanks in their stores.
And if we don't want Ukraine to to be defeated, we have to
be very much open and brave in supporting Ukraine. These
were the arguments and also if Ukraine, God forbid, fails in
defending their sovereignty and freedom, it would mean only
the first step in the Kremlin's mad strategy to rebuild the
Russian Empire from the past. And I think if Europe wants to
have stable and long term growth, stability and development
in a peaceful way, we have to fend off all those barbaric
attacks by the Russians. These were also the arguments which
I believe were important for Chancellor Scholz, for
President Macron, and our other allies in Western Europe.
Kapelos: As you were making those arguments, Chancellor
Scholz was also making some explanations as to why he was
hesitant, and in particular, he was kind of focusing on the
possibility that sending these tanks would escalate things
further with Russia and would provoke Putin further. We've
seen this morning during the rush hour in Ukraine, Russia
aimed a number of missiles at Ukraine and also continued to
attack electrical infrastructure. Does that underscore what
Chancellor Scholz was saying? Is it true that this does
further provoke Putin, and if so, your reaction to that.
Morawiecki: No, Russia's weapon is fear. Our weapon should
be and has to be solidarity. Putin behaves like an actor
from an old geopolitical theater. He's like Nero, ready to
set Rome on fire just to carry out his objectives. And his
main, major objective is to reestablish the Russian Empire.
He took the worst from the demons of the 20th century, like
nationalism, colonialism, and all sorts of features from
(the) totalitarian toolkit, and we have to be very strong in
our reply, because his success means the defeat of not only
Ukraine, (but) the defeat of the free world.
And as I said, if we want to develop in a peaceful
environment, we have to stay strong, stay together, and
united, because it is the only way how we can prevent
further attacks by the Russians. You probably remember how
they were aggressive since the beginning of 2008, invading
Georgia. They invaded Georgia during the month of August
2008, and then they attacked Ukraine in 2014, and then 2022.
So they have insatiable appetite for other countries, they
are not behaving like normal democratic state, not at all,
actually, the opposite is the case. And this is why the
Eastern Flank of NATO should be defended. And thank you, for
Canadian troops to be together hand in hand with Polish
troops in Latvia, for instance, in the format of enhanced
forward presence of NATO. We have to stay strong, defending
Ukraine.
Kapelos: Just on that point, a final question for you. Prime
Minister, was this back and forth about tanks, do you think,
the closest or the most that that sense of unity was at
risk? Because the Allies have been very unified until the
past few weeks when we heard Germany kind of step outside.
Ultimately, as you pointed out, they did decide to
greenlight the export of those tanks, and they decided to
stand with their allies, but has this back and forth posed
the greatest risk to that sense of unity?
Morawiecki: I do not want to be too much criticizing Germany
because I'm very happy and grateful to the German government
that they finally took this very right decision. That's
point No. 1. No. 2, many taboos from the past are now
overcome. The delivery of heavy modern armored vehicles was
not possible just several months ago. Patriot Aircraft
systems, anit-aircraft, anti-missile systems was not to be
able to be delivered to Ukraine either. And here we are in
yet another moment of history of this war, when Leopard 2
tanks, very modern tanks, Abrams tanks from the United
States, are going to be delivered.
The soldiers of Ukraine are going to be trained. And this is
why I'm a strong believer that Ukraine is going to survive
as a sovereign and free nation. They are brave hearts, they
fight with lion hearts, but we have to keep deliveries of
the modern supplies because we know how big a behemoth type
of superpower attacked Ukraine on the 24th of February last
year. So it's our duty, our responsibility to support
Ukraine in those very dark times.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/better-late-than-never-polish-pm-applauds-west-for-sending-tanks-to-ukraine-1.6248472
|
Koło Przyjaciół
Harcerstwa w Ottawie
Fundacja
Dziedzictwa Polskiego w Kanadzie prosi o wsparcie
