Poland says 'Russia’s fifth columns' can destroy EU as an organization

LONDON

The Polish prime minister on Monday said Russia is already at war with the West and its "fifth columns" can destroy the EU as an organization and Europe as a cultural phenomenon.

"The war Russia is waging against us is much more sophisticated than it used to be just a short time ago," Donald Tusk told Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, as reported by broadcaster TVP World.

Tusk said he has sounded the alarm bell multiple times to Western partners and that the message has finally gotten through.

Saying that a mass incursion into Polish airspace by suspected Russian drones in September was a "turning point of the war," he underlined that the decision to shoot down the drones had not been taken lightly but that "we haven’t the slightest doubt that ... tolerating provocations will not end well."

Saying that war between the West and Russia "is [already] ongoing," Tusk argued that in Poland it takes the form of arson, drone strikes, the situation on the border with Belarus and increasingly aggressive cyberattacks.

The Polish premier said he is "in no doubt" that recent attacks on several digital systems, not just electronic payment system, BLIK, are the "result of deliberate, planned sabotage."

"And there will be ever more, all over Europe," he warned, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of waging war against the West that is taking place "inside our societies."

"Putin has tools that can destroy the European Union as an organization, but also Europe as a cultural phenomenon," he said. "These tools are Russia’s fifth columns, present in every country of Europe."