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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team<\/a> and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has thanked Poland for defending Europe from \u201ccynical hybrid attacks\u201d during a visit with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to the border with Belarus. She emphasised the \u201curgency\u201d of protecting the EU\u2019s frontier from the \u201cpredator\u201d Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n Tusk, meanwhile, said that it is time to end the illusion that \u201cconcessions\u201d or \u201csubtle games\u201d can bring about a diplomatic breakthrough with Putin. \u201cPoland, Europe, NATO, and the United States must once again be very tough, decisive and united against this latest version of the evil empire,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n Putin has not changed.<\/p>\n In the last 25 years he started four wars.<\/p>\n He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence.<\/p>\n We must be precise and fast with the surge in our defence posture \u2193 https:\/\/t.co\/K8jFoTYIDt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n von der Leyen visited Poland today on the fourth leg of a tour she is making of frontline eastern EU states, which began on Friday with a trip to Latvia and Finland, followed by Estonia on Saturday. After leaving Poland, she will head to Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania.<\/p>\n Her visit is intended to \u201cunderscore the EU\u2019s support for member states facing the challenges of sharing borders with Russia or Belarus\u201d, says the European Commission.<\/p>\n During von der Leyen\u2019s press conference with Tusk, which took place in front of the anti-migrant fence Poland has built along the Belarus border, the Polish prime minister revealed that the security services had recommended changing venue because armed Belarusian soldiers had been seen nearby.<\/p>\n But both leaders agreed to go ahead because there can be \u201cno concessions, no one will intimidate or bother us here\u201d, declared Tusk. \u201cWe are here to show true European determination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking alongside him, von der Leyen said she had come \u201cto express Europe\u2019s full solidarity with Poland as a frontline state\u201d. She noted that \u201cfor years now, the Polish people have been facing deliberate and cynical hybrid attacks, and I want to emphasise that Europe stands with you in all possible ways\u201d.<\/p>\n Since 2021, Poland has been experiencing a migration crisis on its eastern border<\/a> engineered by Belarus, which has encouraged and assisted tens of thousands of migrants \u2013 mainly from the Middle East, Africa and Asia \u2013 to try to illegally enter the European Union.<\/p>\n Those actions \u2013 along with a campaign of propaganda, disinformation and sabotage<\/a> \u2013 have been termed a \u201chybrid war\u201d by Polish and other European leaders, who note that Belarus\u2019s ally, Russia, has also been behind many such actions.<\/p>\n A Molotov cocktail was last night thrown from the Belarusian side of the border at Polish officers trying to prevent a crossing by migrants.<\/p>\n “Full responsibility\u00a0lies with Belarus,” says Poland’s interior ministry, which published a video of the incident https:\/\/t.co\/X7oh4zdA51<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) July 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cEurope\u2019s borders are a shared responsibility,\u201d said von der Leyen, who noted that funds have already been released<\/a> to invest in defence spending and border protection, with even more planned in the proposed EU budget<\/a> for the 2028-2034 period.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to keep this sense of urgency because we know that Putin has not changed and will not change. He is a predator\u2026He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n von der Leyen finished by thanking Poland for \u201cshowing how courage and determination but also knowledge about our history and what we can learn from it come together in a very concrete action to protect\u2026the European border and thus\u2026the whole democratic world\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier, in a social media post, she also praised Poland for being \u201cthe largest defence spender in Europe\u201d. Poland has this year devoted around 4.5% of GDP to defence, by far the highest relative level in NATO, and it plans to raise that figure to 4.8%<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n Poland will next year increase defence spending to 4.8% of GDP, the highest relative level in NATO, according to a new draft budget published by the government.<\/p>\n The plans also include increased healthcare spending but a lower budget deficit https:\/\/t.co\/2OZfigLo6Z<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) August 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Tusk, meanwhile, noted that today\u2019s meeting was taking place on the anniversary of the formation in 1980 of the Solidarity trade union<\/a> that helped bring about the collapse of communism in Poland nine years later.<\/p>\n Part of Solidarity\u2019s \u201cmission was to unite Europe and separate it from the evil empire\u201d, said Tusk, who was himself a Solidarity activist in his youth. \u201cThis border [with Belarus] is just as important today as our dream of liberation from Soviet domination was then.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that events in Ukraine in recent days and weeks clearly demonstrate that \u201cno concessions, no subtle game with Vladimir Putin and the aggressive Russia will lead to success or guarantee our security\u201d. Instead, Europe and the US must once again unite against the \u201cevil empire\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take our responsibilities seriously and expect all institutions and states in Europe to take the security of our eastern border equally seriously and to take a tough stance against the aggressor, Russia,\u201d added the prime minister. \u201cA secure Poland, a secure border, means a secure Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n Poland has announced the closure of Russia’s consulate in Krak\u00f3w in response to evidence Moscow was behind the fire that destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre.<\/p>\n It is the second Russian consulate closed as retaliation for Moscow’s sabotage campaign https:\/\/t.co\/p77JEhNn7u<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) May 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Main image credit: KPRM\/Flickr<\/a> (under CC BY-ND-ND 4.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of\u00a0Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including\u00a0Foreign Policy,\u00a0POLITICO Europe,\u00a0EUobserver\u00a0and\u00a0Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\n
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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team<\/a> and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/6s83J95K_400x400.jpg\")
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