According to an IBRiS survey for the daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, 69.3 % of respondents believe that we should start talks with NATO and Ukraine on extending air defence to the border territory of Ukraine in order to be able to shoot down Russian missiles flying towards Poland.

When asked whether Poland should talk to NATO and Ukraine about extending air defence on Ukrainian border territory to enable the shooting down of Russian rockets flying towards Poland, 37.6 % of respondents said “definitely yes”, while 31.7 % said “rather yes”.

The opposite view is held by 17.6 % of respondents, with 9.1 % answering “definitely no” and 8.5%, “rather no” to such a question. 13.1 % of them have no opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile, European Union member states are these days deciding on financial assistance for Kyiv. At the previous European Council meeting, in December 2023, Hungary blocked €50 billion in EU aid.

“Perhaps we do not see how close we are to key decisions on a global scale that will affect every Polish family”, said Paweł Kowal, who is to become the Polish government’s plenipotentiary for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

He pointed to the lack of support for Ukraine and the collapse of the frontline, and consequently further Russian aggression, as a threat.

“This is not scaremongering, this is mobilising. It could take two, three, four, five years for Putin to strike the next country”, Kowal warned.

The MP pointed out that “this is the time for Poland, the main European countries, together to learn to produce enough ammunition to deter, to help at the front already”.

The politician pointed out that “we have trouble understanding this because there were more than 30 years of safety and peace.”

Adrian Andrzejewski