Europe and Poland should be prepared for a possible major conflict with Russia by 2027, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday.
He said that his government would make maximum use of the next two years to stabilise the situation in Poland and ensure security, according to reports by the news agency PAP.
The prime minister referred to a similar assessment by the new NATO Supreme Commander Alexus Grynkewich with whom he had spoken shortly before. According to this assessment, Russia and China could become strong enough by 2027 to seek a coordinated confrontation with NATO and the US.
Given Russia’s war against Ukraine, a range of possible scenarios are circulating among Western military experts about when other European states could face aggression. 2027 is the earliest estimate mentioned yet. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said 2029.
EU states are rearming and aim to be able to repel a Russian attack by 2030.
Russia is also expanding its armed forces. However, the Moscow leadership has dismissed the idea NATO territory would be attacked as nonsense.
The Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda recently flipped the narrative, alleging NATO plans to attack Russia in 2027.
Russia continues to attack Ukraine daily, in the full-scale invasion launched by the Kremlin in 2022.
