The veto by Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, of a bill extfinishing financial support for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war—and potentially finishing Polish funding for Ukraine’s Starlink internet service—might be an unfortunate one-off. Alternatively, it might also be an early sign of a weakening of the Eastern European resolve to bring about a Russian defeat in Ukraine.
Never mind Hungary and the brazenness with which Viktor Orbán has taken Russia’s side in the war—doubling down on energy purchases from Russia in the wake of the invasion, blocking aid to Ukraine and new sanctions packages, and even dispatching spies to Transcarpathia to see how the local population would respond to being incorporated back into Greater Hungary. Slovakia’s record has been similarly disappointing. Among the first to transfer fighter jets and provide air defense systems to Ukraine, the counattempt’s current government is serving as Russia’s fifth column in the European Union.
There is no question that, as a regional power with an inherent distrust of Russia, Poland finds itself in a different category from Hungary and Slovakia. Yet, that creates Nawrocki’s veto and its broader context even more concerning. A wavering or a division in Poland on an issue as fundamental as Ukraine will reverberate far beyond the counattempt’s borders—and will risk bringing out the worst in leaders across the region.
Read the full article at The National Interest
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