Colonel Andrzej Derlatka is talking to General Leon Komornicki.
General, the strategical threat from Russia and Belarus has been becoming clearer for any time. Last January, Lukashenko visited the Belarusian army at the camp at the border with Lithuania and Poland, where he heard reports of readiness to "cut the corridor" into the royal circuit. Is that a real threat?
Yeah, it's not just real, it's part of a long-term Russian strategy. Belarus is now de facto part of the Russian military system. From Russia's perspective, the key area for connecting Kaliningrad to Belarus is our weakness. Its acquisition of fire or land would cut off the Baltic States from the remainder of NATO. Russia may effort to usage the minute of political chaos, the divergence between the US and Western Europe to test NATO cohesion.
Can we trust on Article 5 of NATO?
That depends. Article 5 does not work automatically, requires consensus. And present the West is polarized, the societies are discouraged and reluctant to war. Without public support, politicians can't send troops. This opens up Russia's field of aggression and investigating alliance determination.
What does our defence readiness look like?
Awful. The army functions like an administration – soldiers come in at 8 and leave after 15. The barracks are empty. There is no infrastructure, no training staff, no training ground and no basic readiness. In units close the border with the royal circuit there is frequently no 1 after hours. That means that in the event of a weekend attack, no 1 can even react.
What's back to the general draft?
Necessary. It is not just about training individual soldiers – we request structures: reserve brigades, divisions, command and staff. The reserve must be organized and ready for immediate entry into action. It's a minimum trial of 5 years. Training centers for various types of troops must be established, social facilities, canteens and warehouses rebuilt.
What about exercise? We look large on the parades.
But real exercises – brigade, division, with full usage of equipment and logistics – are missing. Without them, we don't build real combat capabilities. It's all in theory. There are even cases where equipment melts in the field like an American tractor in Lithuania. This shows a deficiency of preparation for action under real conditions.
What if Russia uses atomic weapons?
Today we have no answer. We are not covered by atomic sharing. The French atomic umbrella is symbolic and does not include tactical weapons. We request to start working on our own scare – in secret. We have experience and intellectual background from the time we worked on neutron weapons. We besides request to talk to the US – if they start to fear our independence, possibly they will propose to include us with a atomic umbrella.
Can Zapad exercises be a general test?
Definitely. Russian-Belarusian exercises are utilized to test readiness and to exert political pressure. In the event of a decision to attack, the slide pass can be cut by fire in 2 or 3 days. NATO is then faced with a fact made, and Russia can blackmail the escalation, including atomic ones.
How do you measure the situation of Ukraine?
Russia has moved on to a devastating strategy. He no longer wants to master Ukraine as a full – its aim is to exterminate Ukrainian military possible and subdue 4 circuits. It's a war of exhaustion, including the social spirit of combat. Ukraine present has immense shortages – ammunition, air defense, equipment. If aid from the West weakens, the front could collapse. Russia's taking its time. He's building a mass army. Another draft was just announced – 160 1000 people.
Will Europe pass the test?
Only if it's organized around hard safety guarantees. present Poland has a chance to be 1 of the leaders – we have potential, location, army in expansion. But we request a national strategy that will be subject to diplomacy, the President, the Prime Minister and the full government. present there is no specified thing – we have chaos and interior conflicts.
Can alternate guarantees be developed outside NATO?
You gotta look – bilateral as with France. The evidence of immediate military assistance, a model of the erstwhile Western European Union, would be crucial. specified a evidence gives a real guarantee. We should besides think about strategical sovereignty – like Israel, like South Korea. This means being able to act independently, but besides to formulate your own expectations towards allies.
So the point is that Poland is not just a performer of another people's politics?
Exactly. We must be a moderator, not a stent. make a coalition of east flank states – jointly formulate a deterrent strategy. Build your own capabilities – especially in the field of air defence and retaliation. Russia fears only 1 thing – that the enemy will carry the war on its territory.
