The leader of the Polish ruling Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, made clear during a speech in Silesia over the weekend that although Poland would welcome the presence of nuclear weapons on its soil, it recognizes that this currently is impossible.
During his speech, he noted that his brother, the late President Lech Kaczyński, had been pressing for a U.S. anti-missile shield; this is gradually being constructed in Radzikowo on the shore of the Baltic Sea and will protect against intercontinental rockets launched from Russia. Poland is also developing its ability to launch Patriot missiles in response to any Russian assault, as well as preparing shields to defend against short-range missiles.
Kaczyński said that these measures would make Poland far more secure, but he acknowledged that there was also the issue of Russian hypersonic rockets, for which defense systems would have to be found.
The ruling party leader criticized the opposition liberals led by Donald Tusk for their defense policies when they were in office.
He said that they had been disarming the country and placing forces on the western border, thereby defending Germany rather than Poland.
He criticized Polish liberals for putting out a “white flag” in their dealings with Germany and took aim at the 1990 Polish-German treaty in which Poland recognized the present border on the Oder River as asymmetrical and favoring Germany.
Kaczyński argued that the policies pursued in the past in relation to Germany were based on Poland having an inferiority complex towards Germany and the West in general. He said that since PiS came to power in 2015, this stance has changed, which has shocked those in the West who were used to Polish acquiescence.
