Russia embarks on imperial conquest, Polish PM warns in world media

Russia has set out for an imperial conquest with a goal to rebuild the former Soviet sphere of influence, Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, wrote on Friday in American weekly Newsweek as part of 'Telling Poland to the World' publicity campaign.

The next stage of Poland-sponsored imitative marks the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine with articles published in dozens of media outlets around the world.

"Precisely one year ago, on 24 February 2022, Russia launched its military assault against Ukraine, shattering the order established after the Cold War. Russia has embarked on its imperial conquest with a single goal in mind: reconstruct the former Soviet sphere of influence regardless of the related costs and victims," Morawiecki wrote in his article.

According to him, Russian aggression has put in jeopardy "the security and prosperity achieved through the efforts of whole generations of Europeans."

"We must do everything in our power to put a stop to that most terrible geopolitical nightmare of the 21st century," he added.

But, Morawiecki also wrote, that Russia's war on Ukraine has taught the world "many important lessons" that can help ensure peace and security.

In his opinion, the war in Ukraine "is not a local conflict" but "concerns us all." Moreover, Russia fuels the global economic crisis through the war it started and its aftermath. Thirdly, Morawiecki argues, "De-Putinisation is a prerequisite for Europe’s sovereignty.

"One cannot normalise relations with a criminal regime. It is high time Europe became independent of Russia, especially in the energy sector," he writes.

The fourth lesson from the conflict is, according to Morawiecki, that "solidarity is stronger than fear" and that evil should be "overcome together."

His last conclusion is that the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war will strengthen the whole European continent.

"We are facing two scenarios of Europe’s future. Either Ukraine wins and there is peace in the continent, or the winner is Russia and Putin’s imperialism is free to expand," Morawiecki warned.

"If Ukraine is to come out victorious, we need to start thinking about a paradigm shift in European politics even today. The idea of a community of security and peace is now the only possible development model," he concluded.

The worldwide media project called 'Telling Poland to the World' was launched eight years ago, as a joint initiative by Poland's Institute for New Media, the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), the National Bank of Poland (NBP), the Foreign Ministry and the Polish Press Agency.

Earlier editions were centred around the anniversaries of the outbreak of World War II, the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, the Polish January Uprising against Tsarist Russia or the Battle of Warsaw of 1920.