"The war in Ukraine has exposed the truth about Russia,” Mateusz Morawiecki said in an op-ed piece published by the euractiv.com website on Monday.
"Those who refused to see that Putin’s state has imperialist tendencies today have to face the fact that in Russia, the demons of the 19th and 20th centuries were revived: nationalism, colonialism, and totalitarianism," he added.
“But the war in Ukraine has also exposed the truth about Europe," Morawiecki argued. "Many European leaders allowed themselves to be lured by Vladimir Putin and are in shock today."
Morawiecki also said in his op-ed piece, entitled “Historical challenges and false directions for Europe at the crossroads,” that "the return of Russian imperialism should come as no surprise" because Russia "had been rebuilding its position slowly for almost two decades, right under the eye of the West."
He claimed that "the West went for a geopolitical slumber instead of maintaining reasonable vigilance."
"It preferred not to see the increasing problem rather than face it in advance," Morawiecki wrote.
He asserted in his op-ed piece, entitled “Historical challenges and false directions for Europe at the crossroads,” that "Europe today is in such a situation not because it was insufficiently integrated but because it refused to listen to the voice of truth."
He said "the voice has been coming from Poland for many years."
"The fact that the Polish voice is being ignored is just an example of the broader problem that the EU is struggling with today," Morawiecki said. "The equality of individual countries is of a declarative nature."
He added that "political practice has shown that the voice of Germany and France counts above all."
"Thus, we are dealing with a formal democracy and a de facto oligarchy, where power is held by the strongest," Morawiecki argued.
"In addition, the strong ones make mistakes and are incapable of accepting criticism from outside," he said.
"Today’s circumstances force us to think in a different framework," he vowed.
Poland’s conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński has said his country needs to "reshape" its relations with the European Union, adding that Brussels is seeking "to take away our freedom and sovereignty."
“If we win [the next parliamentary elections], we will have to reshape our relations with the European Union,” Kaczyński said in remarks published on Sunday.
“We won’t allow the EU to disregard treaties, agreements and contracts in relations with Poland,” he declared.
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Source: niezalezna.pl, PAP, euractiv.com