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Ukraine and Poland forge ‘special relationship’ as war brings neighbours closer
Financial times ^ | 22 December 2022 | Raphael Minder, Barbara Erling

Posted on 12/23/2022 3:55:26 AM PST by Cronos

Journalist Anna Budyńska was among the grassroots army of Polish volunteers who rushed to help Ukrainian refugees as they began crossing the border in February to escape Russia’s invasion.

At first, she and her partner donated money and collected food and blankets for refugees arriving in Warsaw. But she wanted to do more to understand those whom she was helping and decided to learn Ukrainian.

“I suddenly realised that I had always loved to travel to western Europe, India or Mexico, but I had never visited Ukraine, knew nothing about Ukrainian culture and only a little bit about its history that was taught at school,”

Polish historian Maciej Franz said 2022 would be remembered as “a special year of integration” between “two nations that were isolated from each other by politics half a century ago, and even earlier by hatred and hostility, which was the result of the nationalism that raged between the mid-19th and 20th centuries”.

He said his country was helping Ukraine “because we know what it’s like to be under [Russian] occupation and how terrible it can be”.

... About 1.3mn Ukrainians lived in Poland before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February, and the number has more than doubled since then.

Their presence has given Poles a new sense of kinship with and respect for their neighbours.

...“We share a distinct fatalism and the same history of Russian imperialism, so many Polish people feel that the same kind of Russian aggression could once more await us,”

... Since February, Poland’s military and political support has been unwavering, even after Poland and Nato attributed an accidental missile strike that killed two Polish farm workers last month to the Ukrainian army. In the aftermath, Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that “it is in our best interest to help Ukraine”.

(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: barbaraerling; notourwar; raphaelminder; russianaggression; russianimperialism
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To: FreshPrince

“Yes someone here made that prediction months ago that Polands invasion was imminient..yeah”

Could have been myself, but I didn’t talk timetable, as there was wasn’t a build-up in Poland.

Now they are calling up troops, so my prediction will still not have a time, but it will have an event - which will be when Russia completes its liberation of Donbass and starts moving west, towards the Dnieper River in Central Poland, as that will cause a panic in the West, and the masters who run Europe will figure Ukraine is spent, so time to send the Poles into the meat grinder.


41 posted on 12/23/2022 5:00:32 AM PST by BobL
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To: NorseViking

Driver’s propaganda

Russia is a trivial but pretentious evil entity

The world can clearly see that Putin is too big for his britches


42 posted on 12/23/2022 5:01:47 AM PST by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Juneteenth is inequality day)
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To: buwaya

“In the meantime - https://polanddaily24.com/poland-receives-first-korean-tanks-and-howitzers/politics/14660

The problem is that the trains in Russia are faster, far faster, than the few remaining factories in the West.


43 posted on 12/23/2022 5:02:42 AM PST by BobL
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To: BobL
What Resulted: We caused millions of Serbs to be ‘cleansed’.

Well, maybe Serbs shouldn't have gone nuts in Srebrenica.

44 posted on 12/23/2022 5:02:45 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees)
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To: NorseViking

But the Poles are not doing it in Ukraine. And that’s the point. You’re simply wrong.


45 posted on 12/23/2022 5:03:41 AM PST by vladimir998 ( Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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To: tlozo; ScottinVA; BobL

As Russia mobilizes on the Belarus/Ukraine border in advance of splitting Ukraine in half, and advances thru Bakhmut, block by block, you sad sacks living in Clown World pat each other on the back while swapping articles delivered to you by the MSM. It’s over, go home. Celebrate Christmas with your families for one last time.


46 posted on 12/23/2022 5:04:37 AM PST by JonPreston
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To: BobL

Europe still has arms factories. And the word is they are working non-stop. Open orders for, say, the IRIS-T SAM variant missile (components of that are made in Spain, they are busy), antitank rockets and manpads, and artillery ammo, the critical 152/155mm stuff, from factories in Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, etc.

Thats just part of whats ongoing. The Russians woke them up.


47 posted on 12/23/2022 5:04:45 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: grania

“I’m surprised that the countries surrounding Ukraine aren’t partitioning Ukraine among themselves by ethnic ties.”

Trust me, they want to, just not the time yet. The US-supported Azovs have huge problems with EVERYONE in Ukraine, other than their ‘Master Race’, so Hungarians know they’re next to be ‘cleansed’ if nothing is done. Even black volunteers from the West who went to Ukraine at the beginning were told they weren’t wanted.


48 posted on 12/23/2022 5:05:29 AM PST by BobL
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To: Cronos

Poland’s just another fat fish Zelensky will gut, clean and cook over a Russkie campfire...and never say thank you.


49 posted on 12/23/2022 5:05:41 AM PST by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: JonPreston

What a joke

Russia is presently almost un gunned having lost those guns to Ukraine in the retreats


50 posted on 12/23/2022 5:06:11 AM PST by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Juneteenth is inequality day)
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To: JonPreston

It’s not going to happen, Jon.


51 posted on 12/23/2022 5:06:45 AM PST by ScottinVA
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To: Cronos

Attack On Europe: Documenting Russian Equipment Losses During The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine
12/22/2022, 6:05:34 PM · 72 of 83
marcusmaximus
Russian rumors of upcoming Christmas Day Russian/Belarusan attack from Belarus towards Ratne, Kovel and Sarney in NW Ukraine near Poland. Black Sea naval movements are for cruise missile attacks on Lviv, Lutsk, Rivne, Ternopil in western Ukraine. Putin also planning to make another move on Kyiv to fix Ukrainian forces to keep them from reinforcing the NATO weapons corridor from Poland to NW Ukraine.

Sounds more like Russia is going to invade Poland, or at least attempt to take control of the Ukraine/Poland border in the north. In which case, all of those new K2 Black Panthers will be getting a work out, along with the ship load of Abrams ...

Predicted to go very very badly for the Russians, once Polish SEAD begins.


52 posted on 12/23/2022 5:07:12 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: NorseViking

“Poland is supposed to replace France and Germany in the EU. It needs more real estate to qualify.”

Interesting. Replace in what way, as the manufacturing center of the EU, perhaps? Or maybe the front line?

In any case, Poland will DEMAND some goodies for behaving as such a good puppet for the EU during this war.


53 posted on 12/23/2022 5:08:20 AM PST by BobL
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To: BobL

The problem for Russia is they cant make (or, really, rebuild) tanks fast enough. And that Russian tanks suck.


54 posted on 12/23/2022 5:08:25 AM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: tlozo

“Well, maybe Serbs shouldn’t have gone nuts in Srebrenica.”

That’s been debunked, at least to some extent.


55 posted on 12/23/2022 5:09:32 AM PST by BobL
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To: vladimir998

Learn some history. It tends to repeat itself.


56 posted on 12/23/2022 5:10:02 AM PST by NorseViking
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To: JonPreston
As Russia mobilizes on the Belarus/Ukraine border in advance of splitting Ukraine in half,

If an attack happens from Belarus, they will get bogged down like the the other fronts. Its a problem of logistics, russians have to use railways for re-supply, which go through every major town.

57 posted on 12/23/2022 5:10:13 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees)
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To: buwaya

Meanwhile, Russia can’t manufacture what they need to replace the losses on the battlefield

Putin is reduced to war crimes to persist


58 posted on 12/23/2022 5:11:18 AM PST by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Juneteenth is inequality day)
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To: BobL
That’s been debunked, at least to some extent.

Right

 An aerial view of the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina August 26, 2020.


59 posted on 12/23/2022 5:12:10 AM PST by tlozo (Better to Die on Your Feet than Live on Your Knees)
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To: buwaya

A single factory in Russia was responsible for 3/4 of global rank production BEFORE the war. Now it works three shifts.


60 posted on 12/23/2022 5:13:54 AM PST by NorseViking
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