Paris embassy clarifies ambassador’s claim Poland could “enter conflict” in Ukraine

After Poland’s ambassador to France told a local broadcaster that his country could “enter the conflict” in Ukraine, the Polish embassy has sought to explain his remarks, arguing that they were taken out of context.

Speaking to LCI on Saturday, the ambassador, Jan Emeryk Rościszewski, said “it is not NATO, Poland, France or Slovakia that is increasing tensions, it is Russia that has attacked Ukraine, it is Russia that invaded its territory, it is Russia that kills people, it is Russia that kidnaps Ukrainian children”.

“If Ukraine fails to defend its independence, we will have no choice but to enter the conflict,” he added. “Our fundamental values, which are the cornerstone of our civilisation, our culture will be in fundamental danger, so we don’t have a choice.”

His words triggered criticism from opposition politicians in Poland.

“The Polish ambassador to France saying we will enter a war with Russia if Ukraine fails is clearly exceeding his powers and should simply be removed from office. Hello [foreign ministry]!” tweeted Maciej Gdula, an MP from The Left (Lewica).

“The PiS [ruling party’s] diplomatic staff are a disaster. They put forward people with no experience in diplomacy as ambassadors, and they later say whatever comes to mind,” wrote Krzystof Bosak, one of the leaders of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party.

Before being appointed as ambassador to France last year, Rościszewski had worked in finance, including as chairman of the board of state-owned bank PKO and in France for insurance giant Axa.

In response to such criticism, the embassy in Paris released a statement denying that the ambassador had announced possible Polish involvement in the conflict and arguing that the diplomat’s words were taken “out of context”.

“During a half-hour conversation, Ambassador Rościszewski argued for the need for allies to support Ukraine. He also spoke about the threat that Russia poses to Europe and European values,” wrote the embassy.

“A careful listening to the whole conversation makes it clear that there was no announcement of direct involvement by Poland in the conflict, but only a warning of the consequences that a defeat of Ukraine could have,” it added.

“Looking for sensational content that does not fit with Poland’s consistent efforts over the past year to help Ukraine win this conflict so that it would not spill over into Europe and Poland should be regarded as ill will,” it added.

Although the Polish foreign ministry did not directly address the ambassador’s statement in a separate communication, it retweeted the embassy’s message.

Rościszewski’s remarks came as one French politician, National Rally (RN) MEP and former minister Thierry Mariani, accused Poland of “clearly trying to drag the European Union into an escalation” of the war in Ukraine.

His comments came in response to Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, last week announcing that his country would become the first to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine.

“It seems to me that it is extremely dangerous for Poland to deliver military aircraft to Kyiv,” Mariani told Russian state news agency TASS. “Until now, the United States has not made such a decision. Warsaw is now going even further than Washington in supplying Ukraine with military equipment.”

Poland has long argued that helping Ukraine’s defend itself against Russian aggression is vital for the safety of Europe, and in particular of NATO’s eastern member states.

Main photo credit: Serwis Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.