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May 21st, 2025 | 6:25 PM ET

Why Poland is Critical – For Ukraine and Europe’s Defense 

Poland has won praise for its military, and for “getting Russia right” 

GNIEW, POLAND – A Polish soldier stands by as Leopard 2PL main battle tanks of the Polish armed forces descend from M3 amphibious rigs of the German/British Amphibious Engineer Battalion 130 after crossing the Vistula River during the NATO Dragon 24 military exercise on March 04, 2024 near Gniew, Poland. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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Posted: May 21st, 2025

By The Cipher Brief

EXPERT INTERVIEWS – Sunday’s presidential election in Poland, and the country’s growing role in NATO, have put a fresh focus on Poland as a critical part of European efforts to defend against Russian aggression. 

No European country – other than Ukraine itself – has been as directly affected by Russia’s 2022 invasion. Poland has taken the highest number of Ukrainian refugees by far; overall, nearly nine million have crossed into Poland, and three years into the war, roughly one million Ukrainian refugees remain there. The country has also faced repeated threats from Moscow; last month, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief Sergey Naryshkin criticized Poland and the Baltic nations for “constantly rattling their weapons,” and warned that in the event of “aggression from NATO,” those countries would be “the first to suffer.”

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Categorized as:Central and Eastern Europe NATO ReportingTagged with:

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