Military enlistments are spiking, demands for passports are surging, and memories of the bad old days of the Cold War are fraying the collective nerves of the Polish people.
has reverberated in Poland well beyond the influx of more than 1.4 million refugees, a group of mostly women and children that threatens to overwhelm the country’s infrastructure for providing assistance.
The fact that Poland is an established member of both the European Union and the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization tempers fears that Moscow’s perceived push for a “Greater Russia” could eventually spill into Poland — which was a Soviet satellite state until the fall of Eastern Bloc communism in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall came down.
Poles born in the post-communist era appear less likely to fear that the conflict will envelop their country. There is a clear generational split, even if the Russian attack was a kind of wake-up call for the young as well. “Nuclear blackmail is [now] on the agenda almost every day,” said Wlodzimierz Marciniak, a political scientist and former Polish ambassador to the Russian Federation. “Right now the war is hot and it is next door.”
“It’s confusing,” Magda, who asked that her surname be withheld for privacy reasons, said after the soldiers had moved on. “I want to live through this, to see the world.” In a national poll taken just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poles were asked how they felt. The most common response: “I am afraid,” the choice of 78% of participants, according to the newspaper Rzeczpospolita. An additional 15.5% described themselves as worried; only 6.5% identified “calm” as their state of mind.
The volunteers seen at train and bus depots throughout the country are part of an extraordinary outpouring of support for the massive influx of refugees who have fled into Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. In the capital, Warsaw, the surge has approached a breaking point, with the mayor on Friday asking for international help.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bipartisan group of senators to travel to Poland amid Russia-Ukraine warA bipartisan group of senators is traveling to Poland Saturday in a show of support for the help the NATO ally has provided during the war in Ukraine.
Read more »
Missiles Hit Ukraine Site Near Poland Border; NATO Warns Russia Could Use Chemical WeaponsThis is CNBC’s live blog tracking Sunday’s developments on the war in Ukraine. See below for the latest updates.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine live updates: With Russian airstrike near Lviv, fighting moves closer to PolandBREAKING: Brent Renaud, a past contributor to the New York Times, photographer and filmmaker, has been killed in Ukraine, the newspaper confirmed. He was not on assignment for The Times when he was killed, according to a statement from the news outlet.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: Russian airstrike hits base in western Ukraine, kills 35Russia has escalated attacks in western Ukraine, striking a military base where its troops had trained with NATO forces and bringing the conflict closer to Poland and other members of the bloc.
Read more »
Russia attacks Ukraine: Video journalist Brent Renaud killed in UkraineRenaud was shot when Russian forces opened fire on a car near Irpin.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine updates: American in western Ukraine describes 'bombs falling left and right'UKRAINE-RUSSIA LATEST: 🔷 Mariupol humanitarian corridor blocked again, Zelenskyy says 🔷 Lead Ukrainian negotiator: 'It’s already WWIII' 🔷 Nearly 2.7 million people have left Ukraine 🔷 Power lines repaired at Chernobyl nuclear plant
Read more »