Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk assessed that the situation in Europe is the worst since the end of the Second World War and appealed to Europeans to understand that war is not a concept of the past, but that they live in a pre-war state in which every scenario is possible and that the next two years will solve everything.
"I don't want to scare anyone, but the war is no longer a concept from the past. It is real, it started two years ago. I know how it sounds for people from the younger generation, but we have to mentally adopt that a new era is coming. A pre-war era. I'm not exaggerating." , Tusk said in an interview with several European media, including the Polish newspaper Gazeta Vyborča.
He said that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez asked at the European Union summit that the word "war" should no longer be used in EU documents, because people do not want to be scared that way, and in Spain it sounds abstract to them.
"What causes the greatest unrest today is that literally every scenario is possible. We have not had such a situation since 1945. I replied that in my part of Europe, war is no longer abstract and that our duty is not to discuss, but to act and prepare for defense," said Tusk.
The Polish Prime Minister appealed in an interview to Gazeta Vyborcha to reject the "what if" thinking, because the main task of the West is to defend Ukraine to remain an independent state with territorial integrity.
"Ukraine's future is mostly in our hands. It's not only about Poland and the EU, but about the whole West. It depends on us whether Ukraine will manage to avoid pessimistic scenarios. Today the situation is much more difficult than a year ago, but much better than in at the beginning of the war, when Putin's soldiers stood on the outskirts of Kiev," said the Polish Prime Minister.
Regardless of who will be in the White House in the next term, Tusk believes that Europe must more actively nurture transatlantic ties and that it is a misconception that it is only loyal if it renounces military ambitions or, on the contrary, that due to the policies of former US President Donald Trump and anti-American mood in some European countries should completely break the alliance with the USA.
"We need a strong alliance with the US, and at the same time we must be independent and self-sufficient when it comes to defense. Our task is to nurture ties regardless of who will be the president of the US. There is no reason for the Europeans not to respect the basic principle and not to set aside at least two percent of GDP - for defense," said Tusk.
The Polish Prime Minister said that he understands that Spain or Italy do not want to allocate four percent of GDP per year, following the example of his country.
"But two percent of GDP simply must. I don't understand how anyone can dispute that. We have to allocate as much as possible for the purchase of weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, because we are living in the most critical moment since the end of the Second World War. The next two years will decide on everything. If Ukraine is defeated, no one in Europe will be able to feel safe," said Tusk.
The Polish Prime Minister warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is accusing Ukraine of a terrorist attack at a concert in Krasnogorsk and that, as he stated, he is doing so without any evidence.
"We know from history that Putin uses this type of tragedies for his own goals. We remember what happened after the attack on the Dubrovka theater or the school in Beslan. Putin has already started to accuse Ukraine even though he has not shown any evidence. It is obvious that he needs to justify even more brutal attacks on civilian objects in Ukraine," said Tusk in an interview with European media.
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