The postwar era is over, the Polish prime minister emphasized, and we are beginning to live in a new, pre-war era. And for some of our brothers, this is not even pre-war time anymore, but a full-scale war in its most brutal form.
Donald Tusk noted that Europeans are not to blame for the fact that their daily vocabulary now includes such expressions as fighting, explosions, missile attacks, genocide.
Europe wanted to live and develop in the post-war world, but now Europeans must make it clear that they face a very obvious and simple choice: either fight to protect their borders, territories, principles and citizens, and thus the fate of future generations, or be destroyed.
There is no objective reason to capitulate to evil, emphasized the Prime Minister of Poland, whose country was one of the first victims of Hitler's aggression in 1939. Europe's potential - economic, financial, demographic and moral - is now much greater than the potential of those who attack us. Europe must believe in its strength.
These words of the Prime Minister of Poland reflect the concern of Europeans that the United States will not be able to come to the aid of European countries in the event of Russian aggression. And Europe must mobilize its forces in order to adequately respond to Russian attempts to destabilize the situation on the continent and even start a war with one or more NATO member states.
Donald Tusk is not alone in his analysis of the pre-war situation. The words and intentions of French President Emmanuel Macron are now also speaking to this. Politicians in many European countries are calling on their compatriots to prepare for a possible war.
The intentions on the other side of the barricades are similar. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, known for his influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his desire to turn his country into a fortress from which to launch a successful offensive against the civilized world, called the recent NATO exercises in northern Europe preparations for war with Russia.
Russia is constantly threatening European countries with aggression and even the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a conflict between Russia and NATO or European assistance to Ukraine in its countering Russian aggression. Moreover, the use of nuclear weapons by the Russian Federation cannot be ruled out even if the conflict does not cross Ukraine's borders. For example, if Ukraine manages to liberate its own territories occupied by Russia, or if the military contingents of NATO member states are deployed on the territory of Ukraine.
Thus, we can say that Europe is indeed entering a pre-war era, and European countries are beginning to prepare for an almost inevitable large-scale war that could destroy both the European continent and the Russian Federation.
The Ukrainian war, which seemed to many in 2014 and even in 2022 to be a local conflict, is increasingly looking like what it really is - a prelude to a major war on the European continent with hundreds of thousands of victims, millions of refugees, and the destruction of economic potential.
However, it is still possible to stop this negative turn of events, which will cost the lives of millions of European citizens and destroy the entire way of life that Europeans have built precisely because they drew the right conclusions from the experience of two world wars and decided that they did not want a third.
Russia’s potential in terms of its military and economic capabilities cannot be compared to that of Hitler's Germany. Vladimir Putin is trying to build a propaganda remake of the Third Reich, and he himself is unsuccessfully playing the role of his favorite, Adolf Hitler.
Thus, if Russia can be weakened at the stage of the war with Ukraine, if the Russian army and its equipment are constantly destroyed by the civilized world's assistance to Ukraine, if Russia loses manpower and turns into an improvised cemetery of occupiers, this can create the necessary conditions for Russia to refuse to start a war in Europe and for a change of power even within the Chekist regime that was built in this inept country after the collapse of communism.
It is obvious that the Chekists in Vladimir Putin's inner circle may put an end to his domination when they realize that the newest Führer can lead to the collapse of their entire vertical, that the power of the Chekists and the tens of billions of dollars they have stolen over the three decades of the shameful history of the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union will be threatened.
It is the attempt to preserve their influence, money, and interests that can lead to the reformatting of the Russian regime and the desire of its leaders to coexist with the civilized world, rather than to wage a war against it, which could lead to Russia’s crushing defeat or to the disappearance of this state in the flames of a devastating nuclear war.
And it is obvious that those who are currently ruling Russia and do not pay attention to their own society, which is infected with a chauvinistic virus, or to the peoples of neighboring countries, are definitely not willing to lose their lives and property because of the ambitions of Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.
There are still chances. However, the realization of the danger will grow with every pre-war day.
About the author. Vitaliy Portnykov, journalist, winner of the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.