Poland fires back at Russia's Zakharova with economic data after Nawrocki 'Moskal' row

Nawrocki's anniversary speech

On Thursday, August 6, President Karol Nawrocki marked the first anniversary of his swearing-in with a speech outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. He stated that Poland's strategic interest is for Ukraine and its soldiers to handle the "post-Soviet Russian Federation" as effectively as possible and keep Russian forces as far from Poland as possible. Nawrocki declared that Poland supports Ukraine even without direct participation in the war, using the word "Moskal" to refer to Russian forces: "where they beat the Moskal, Poland helps." He added that what happens in Ukraine does not harm Poles, and that Ukrainians should "kill the Soviets who attacked them."

Zakharova's Telegram attack

On Friday, August 7, Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova published a lengthy post on Telegram. She called Nawrocki a "Gdańsk museum worker," referencing his prior role as director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, and said his use of the word "Moskal" showed he "uses the language of hatred." She wrote that "clinical rusophobia evidently affects his cognitive abilities." Zakharova also attacked Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, writing that the Polish-Russian border was once a place of "mutually beneficial cooperation" from which, thanks to people like Nawrocki and Sikorski, "nothing remains." She wrote of "historical complexes and powerless anger" among Polish authorities and claimed Poland's current borders were the achievement of the Soviet Union and the Red Army.

Sikorski's video response

Sikorski responded on Saturday on X, writing that the Russian MFA spokeswoman had called both him and Nawrocki "rusophobes" and attaching a recording of his February 23, 2024 speech at the UN Security Council. In that speech, delivered on the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sikorski had replied to Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia, who accused Poland of "rusophobia."

A phobia means a fear that is irrational. Meanwhile, the former president of Russia and Putin's propagandists threaten us with nuclear annihilation almost every day. I dare say there is nothing irrational about it: when Russia threatens us, we believe those threats.

Sikorski also addressed Russian claims about Poland attacking the Soviet Union during WWII, asking what Soviet troops were doing near Warsaw in 1920 and whether they were on a "topographic expedition." He concluded that they failed to subjugate Poland then and would fail to subjugate Ukraine.

Wewiór's data-driven riposte

MFA spokesman Maciej Wewiór posted his own response on X on Saturday, opening with "Maria Zakharova again threatens Poland. As always, time for facts." He listed comparative metrics: Russia has 55 times more territory, vast resources, and four times the population, but Poland's GDP per capita is twice as high, Poland has over twice as many highways and expressways, and its homicide rate is nearly ten times lower. He added that he would not even mention "the difference in allies."

Wewiór contrasted Poland's family support programs (800+, nursery subsidies, parental leave) with Russia's reliance on military pay and "coffin money" for families of fallen soldiers. He noted Poland does not send soldiers to a front where "life expectancy is about 30 minutes," and that Polish politicians arguing even "standing by open windows" is "the salt of democracy."

Direct appeal to Moscow

Wewiór addressed Zakharova directly, saying that Russia "threatens and attacks its neighbors, whether militarily or hybridly," and that every country would prefer a neighbor it can trade with and argue with rather than an aggressor it must prepare to defend against.

Instead of again looking for the guilty in Warsaw, it's time to look at Moscow, Ms. Zakharova!