NATO Exercises in Western Poland a ‘Message to Russia’

Polish DM Declares Peaceful Era in Europe 'Over'

Just a day after puzzlingly insisting that planned US military deployments in Eastern Europe had nothing to do with Russia, NATO is now touting a military exercise in western Poland as an explicit show of force against Russia, saying it proves their ability to counter Russian activities in the region.

Since the Ukrainian Civil War, which NATO blames on Russia, erupted last year, NATO has conducted several major military exercises along the Russian frontier in Eastern Europe, all the while predicting Russian invasions of NATO nations.

Polish DM Tomasz Siemoniak kept up the bellicose tone against Russia today in comments at the NATO exercises, declaring the “decades of peace after the Cold War” to be over, and calling for a massive increase in military reinforcement across the region, aimed naturally at Russia.

The NATO deployments in Poland and the Baltic states likely amount to little more than financial subsidies for those nations, which is why they are so keen to keep them going, and why Polish officials are so eager to talk up the putative war they are meant to prepare for.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.