Latest news with #RadekSikorski
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
We've been here before: what the 1930s teach us about rearmament
We are living in a new era of threat. So writes the Defence Secretary John Healey in the just published UK Strategic Defence Review. This is a credible document, reflecting the serious team assembled to work on it. But it's come under fire for promising much without explaining where the funding will come from. Sir Keir Starmer has committed to lift defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP from April 2027, with an ambition to reach 3 per cent in the next Parliament. This is a good first step. But laying out a plan, fully funding commitments and prioritising investments all matter. So, too, does discounting for the optimism bias around procurement. In defence, we commit in haste and are billed at leisure. The strategic environment has pivoted fast. We live in a world where great power competition is a reality. It took time for governments across Europe to wake up to the level of threat. Radek Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, was an early proponent of higher defence spending. In a brilliant speech last summer at the Ditchley Foundation, he reminded his audience that: 'We are in a pre-war moment. The question is not whether we will be attacked, but whether we will be ready.' The Poles have been preparing. They have been there before. History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Our volatile world now looks and tastes more like the 1930s: competing nationalisms and a real threat of war. But there are differences, too. In 1935, even amid mass unemployment and economic hardship, Britain spent more of its GDP on defence then than the 2.3 per cent we spend today. That in a year when 2.5 million were out of work and industrial output had not yet returned to pre-1929 levels. The difference now is that other demands on the public purse have grown: the NHS, pensions, and a large welfare state. A more expansive government is more expensive. This is partly true – but Britain's levels of debt in the 1930s were much higher than they are today. We now need to invest in fresh capabilities as we did then. Just as air power represented the cutting-edge military technology then, cyber and space capabilities define today's defence frontier. All this takes us to the task ahead. There needs to be a vigorous national debate about defence and the current and likely threats we face. Despite social-media doomscrolling and breaking news, public understanding of the threat and what it means has yet to filter through. It's incumbent on all our politicians in government and opposition to be fostering that debate. There's a job for universities, too, where – with a few noble exceptions – teaching and talking about war and defence has withered. We need to be spending much more on defence. The UK risks falling down the league table of European defence spending as others commit to lifting their budgets. There is a logic for Britain to pursue a Nato-first approach and focus on the near-term challenge: Russian aggression. But there is also a logic in maintaining 'actor-agnostic' capability – you never know where the next threat comes from. Cyber attacks mean that hackers in North Korea or China can threaten UK national security. There is still a logic in keeping close to the United States: our firmest ally, a generous friend and the most powerful country in the world. Yet there is logic, too, in co-operating with European countries – while protecting our own strategic autonomy – because we need manufacturing and innovation as well as money. The Allies won in the Second World War because of money, technology and manufacturing prowess, as well as grit, leadership and sacrifice. Without committing enough money, Britain's rhetoric on defence will run hollow. The 2025 defence review is a major contribution, but what matters most is money. This Wednesday we will see that unfold when the Chancellor sets out the spending review. Prof Alexander Evans teaches at the London School of Economics Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
08-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
We've been here before: what the 1930s teach us about rearmament
We are living in a new era of threat. So writes the Defence Secretary John Healey in the just published UK Strategic Defence Review. This is a credible document, reflecting the serious team assembled to work on it. But it's come under fire for promising much without explaining where the funding will come from. Sir Keir Starmer has committed to lift defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP from April 2027, with an ambition to reach 3 per cent in the next Parliament. This is a good first step. But laying out a plan, fully funding commitments and prioritising investments all matter. So, too, does discounting for the optimism bias around procurement. In defence, we commit in haste and are billed at leisure. The strategic environment has pivoted fast. We live in a world where great power competition is a reality. It took time for governments across Europe to wake up to the level of threat. Radek Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, was an early proponent of higher defence spending. In a brilliant speech last summer at the Ditchley Foundation, he reminded his audience that: 'We are in a pre-war moment. The question is not whether we will be attacked, but whether we will be ready.' The Poles have been preparing. They have been there before. History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Our volatile world now looks and tastes more like the 1930s: competing nationalisms and a real threat of war. But there are differences, too. In 1935, even amid mass unemployment and economic hardship, Britain spent more of its GDP on defence then than the 2.3 per cent we spend today. That in a year when 2.5 million were out of work and industrial output had not yet returned to pre-1929 levels. The difference now is that other demands on the public purse have grown: the NHS, pensions, and a large welfare state. A more expansive government is more expensive. This is partly true – but Britain's levels of debt in the 1930s were much higher than they are today. We now need to invest in fresh capabilities as we did then. Just as air power represented the cutting-edge military technology then, cyber and space capabilities define today's defence frontier. All this takes us to the task ahead. There needs to be a vigorous national debate about defence and the current and likely threats we face. Despite social-media doomscrolling and breaking news, public understanding of the threat and what it means has yet to filter through. It's incumbent on all our politicians in government and opposition to be fostering that debate. There's a job for universities, too, where – with a few noble exceptions – teaching and talking about war and defence has withered. We need to be spending much more on defence. The UK risks falling down the league table of European defence spending as others commit to lifting their budgets. There is a logic for Britain to pursue a Nato-first approach and focus on the near-term challenge: Russian aggression. But there is also a logic in maintaining 'actor-agnostic' capability – you never know where the next threat comes from. Cyber attacks mean that hackers in North Korea or China can threaten UK national security. There is still a logic in keeping close to the United States: our firmest ally, a generous friend and the most powerful country in the world. Yet there is logic, too, in co-operating with European countries – while protecting our own strategic autonomy – because we need manufacturing and innovation as well as money. The Allies won in the Second World War because of money, technology and manufacturing prowess, as well as grit, leadership and sacrifice. Without committing enough money, Britain's rhetoric on defence will run hollow. The 2025 defence review is a major contribution, but what matters most is money. This Wednesday we will see that unfold when the Chancellor sets out the spending review.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Poland has evidence Russia behind shopping centre fire, says minister
Poland's foreign minister says his country has evidence that Russia recruited people on the Telegram messaging service to carry out last year's massive shopping centre fire in to the BBC in an exclusive interview, Radek Sikorski said Moscow's actions were "completely unacceptable" and that a second Russian consulate in Poland had been closed as a result. His comments come after a Polish investigation concluded that the Marywilska shopping centre fire was orchestrated by Moscow's intelligence denied its involvement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accusing Poland of being "Russophobic". The May 2024 fire destroyed 1,400 small businesses, with many of the staff there belonging to Warsaw's Vietnamese community."We have evidence that they commissioned people living in Poland, they commissioned them on Telegram and paid them to set fire to this huge shopping mall," Sikorski said on Monday. "It was by miracle that nobody was hurt, but this is completely unacceptable."The foreign minister told the BBC he had decided Russia's presence in Poland must be "further curtailed" and that Russia's consulate in Krakow had now been closed in order to try and make it harder for Moscow to "spy" on Poland. "We will take further decisions if they continue these hybrid attacks," Sikorski warfare is a term used to describe how a hostile state carries out an anonymous, deniable attack, usually in highly suspicious circumstances. It will be enough to harm their opponent, especially their infrastructure assets, but stop short of being an attributable act of one consulate now remains open in Poland, alongside the embassy. The mission in the city of Poznań was closed last year after Warsaw accused Russia of acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare. When asked on Monday why Poland did not just sever all diplomatic ties, Sikorski said: "I hope it doesn't come to that."Responding to the closure of the Krakow consulate, Peskov said: "All these accusations are absolutely groundless, baseless."There are a lot of different accusations against Russia being voiced in Poland. This part is absolutely Russophobic and unfriendly towards our country."He added: "As for the reduction of Russia's diplomatic presence in Poland, these are integral parts of a common chain aimed at curtailing the already deplorable state of bilateral relations. Poland chooses hostility and unfriendliness towards us."Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has detained and convicted several people accused of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, told state media: "Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of citizens". Poland carried out a year-long investigation into the shopping centre incident, before concluding the fire was organised by an unnamed person in Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday said that some of those responsible were already in custody, while all the others alleged to have been involved had been identified and were being searched workers lost important documents and large sums of cash in the fire, which were kept at the shopping centre due to fear of break-ins at shopping centre in Warsaw, Modlinska 6D, was opened in October last year, with traders relocating their businesses to the new site.
12-05-2025
- Politics
Poland orders closure of Russian consulate in Krakow, citing arson attack blamed on Moscow
WARSAW, Poland -- Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Monday that he was ordering the closure of Russia's consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia was responsible for a fire that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw last year. The fire broke out May 12, 2024, in the Marywilska 44 shopping center that housed some 1,400 shops and service points, a budget marketplace in a warehouse-like structure in a northern district of Warsaw. Many of the vendors were from Vietnam, and it inflicted tragedy on many in Warsaw's Vietnamese community. Sikorski announced the closure in a statement published in Warsaw on Monday morning, exactly one year after the fire. He also addressed the matter during a visit to Britain, telling reporters the decision was taken because the Justice Ministry and Security forces found evidence that Russia had committed arson. 'This was a huge fire of a shopping mall in Warsaw in which, just by sheer luck, nobody was hurt. This is completely unacceptable," Sikorski said. 'So the Russian consulate will have to leave,' he added. 'And if these attacks continue, we'll take further action.' Russia's Foreign Ministry said Monday that there would be an 'adequate response' to the consulate's closure. 'Warsaw is continuing to deliberately destroy relations (between Poland and Russia) and acting against the interests of its citizens,' ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, as quoted by Russian news outlet Interfax. Sikorski last year already ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, one of three at the time in Poland, in response to acts of sabotage including arson attacks that he said were sponsored by Moscow. This leaves only one Russian consulate left, in Gdansk. There are rising concerns in Europe over Russian attempts to destabilize the region through covert operations. Russia has denied that it is doing that. Countries along NATO's eastern flank, like Poland and the Baltic states, feel especially vulnerable. Lithuania in March accused Russia of carrying out an arson attack last year at an IKEA in Vilnius, the capital. Authorities in these countries have been cooperating as they see that some of the alleged perpetrators work across borders. Lithuania's prosecutor general's office said the suspect in the Vilnius IKEA fire carried out planning during a secret meeting in Warsaw to set fire to and blow up shopping centers in Lithuania and Latvia for a monetary reward. Sikorski's announcement followed Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying late Sunday that Polish officials 'now know for certain that the massive fire on Marywilska was the result of arson commissioned by Russian services.' 'The actions were coordinated by a person residing in Russia. Some of the perpetrators are already in custody, while the rest have been identified and are being sought,' Tusk said on X. 'We will catch them all!'
India Today
12-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Poland accuses Moscow for 2024 Warsaw fire, orders closure of Russian consulate
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Monday that he was ordering the closure of Russia's consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia was responsible for a fire that destroyed a shopping centre in Warsaw last fire broke out on May 12, 2024, in the Marywilska 44 shopping centre that housed some 1,400 shops and service points, a budget marketplace in a warehouse-like structure in a northern district of Warsaw. Many of the vendors were from Vietnam, and it inflicted tragedy on many in Warsaw's Vietnamese announced the closure in a statement published in Warsaw on Monday morning, exactly one year after the fire. He also addressed the matter during a visit to Britain, telling reporters the decision was taken because the Justice Ministry and Security forces found evidence that Russia had committed arson.'This was a huge fire of a shopping mall in Warsaw in which, just by sheer luck, nobody was hurt. This is completely unacceptable," Sikorski said.'So the Russian consulate will have to leave,' he added. 'And if these attacks continue, we'll take further action.'Russia's Foreign Ministry said Monday that there would be an 'adequate response' to the consulate's closure.'Warsaw is continuing to deliberately destroy relations (between Poland and Russia) and acting against the interests of its citizens,' ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, as quoted by Russian news outlet last year already ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, one of three at the time in Poland, in response to acts of sabotage including arson attacks that he said were sponsored by leaves only one Russian consulate left, in are rising concerns in Europe over Russian attempts to destabilise the region through covert operations. Russia has denied that it is doing along NATO's eastern flank, like Poland and the Baltic States, feel especially vulnerable. Lithuania in March accused Russia of carrying out an arson attack last year at an IKEA in Vilnius, the capital. Authorities in these countries have been cooperating as they see that some of the alleged perpetrators work across prosecutor general's office said the suspect in the Vilnius IKEA fire carried out planning during a secret meeting in Warsaw to set fire to and blow up shopping centres in Lithuania and Latvia for a monetary announcement followed Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying late Sunday that Polish officials 'now know for certain that the massive fire on Marywilska was the result of arson commissioned by Russian services.''The actions were coordinated by a person residing in Russia. Some of the perpetrators are already in custody, while the rest have been identified and are being sought,' Tusk said on X. 'We will catch them all!'
