In little than 48 hours, the Polish frontier became subjected to an unprecedented drone attack and a complete border closure with Belarus. These 2 critical moments were not isolated events. They were a continuation of a hybrid conflict that has been ongoing since August 2021, erstwhile Minsk first began orchestrating illegal border crossings. These acts form a broader pattern that reflects the evolving nature of confrontation – the weaponization of everything from migration and trade to technology, all meant to increasingly disrupt the Polish reality and to set our borderland on fire.
“Neither war nor peace,” Leon Trotsky famously remarked. Nearly 100 years later, this quip is more applicable than ever. Just recently, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, stated “we are not at war, but we are no longer at peace either.” The ongoing confrontation with Russia necessitates a fresh rationale of action. We request to come up with fresh ways of reacting to Russian provocations, rethink our escalation ladder, guarantee continuous European support, mitigate the economical fallout of hybrid attacks, and search for fresh means to enhance our deterrence potential.
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