Sikorski: Poland will do whatever it takes not to be a Russian colony again

Minister Sikorski was one of the guest speakers at the Impact'24 congress in Poznań, devoted to topics related to economy and technological innovation. With more than 6,000 people attending, Impact'24 is one the largest events of this kind in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Poland was, and I hope still is, an icon of success in overcoming communism, command economy, and dictatorship," Sikorski said in a conversation with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff and former Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of State.

"And in that sense, we are made for each other because you have the global reach, but we have a good story to tell of how you progress from dictatorship to freedom," he added.

Speaking about Polish-U.S. relations, Sikorski said: "The security relationship is the core of our relationship. We see you as our main ally, not only in the nuclear sphere but beyond that."

He also mentioned the cooperation in energy sector as another crucial element of the relationship between Warsaw and Washington.

"We have the energy relationship. Originally, it was supposed to be… shale gas. At a certain moment, we had the largest number of drillings in Europe. And now it’s going to be nuclear."

Abedin asked about Poland's increased military spending, currently the highest in NATO in terms of percentage of GDP.

"Well, we have a saying in Poland: every country has an army - either your own or a foreign one. We have experienced many times that your own, in the long run, is cheaper," the minister replied.

"We will do whatever it takes not to be a Russian colony again," he underscored.

Mentioning this year's U.S. presidential election that is to take place in November, Abedin asked Sikorski to explain why Ukraine's victory over Russia is in the interest of America.

The minister pointed out that apart from political issues, 90 percent of cash for military equipment for Ukraine is spent in the United States.

"In addition, Poland alone has ordered 55 billion dollars worth of armaments from the United States. From the beginning of the war, Europe has tens of billions of dollars worth of American equipment. But that’s just the base. The more important arguments are more general. We need a victory, you know," he added.

In his view, the West has become demoralized. "I think the Clinton’s (presidency) was the heights of liberal consensus and of the reach of democratic government around the world. We’ve had quite a few defeats since then. We made bets that have not paid for us. We hoped that the Arab Spring would be what 1989 was for Central Europe. (It) didn’t work out. We hoped that China included in the WTO would be a responsible stakeholder. Not quite. We, or you bet rather, that if we embrace Russia, she will also democratize. They’ve gone (off) at a tangent. And so on," he explained.

According to Sikorski, "Ukraine wants to be like Poland." "They want to become a normal, Western, democratic, free-economy country."

"And after Afghanistan and Iraq, we need to restore our morale, but also we need to demonstrate to ourselves and to the world that we can win. That actually our system is not just fairer, freer, but it is also more efficient and more successful," the minister stressed.

WATCH THE WHOLE CONVERSATION BETWEEN HUMA ABEDIN AND RADOSŁAW SIKORSKI BELOW