Poland, the new pillar of American strategy in Europe

Special Envoy to Warsaw

On February 24, 2022, when Vladimir Putin decided to conquer Kiev, unleashing the extraordinary resistance of the conquered nation, another people rose up en masse for Ukraine: the Poles. Within a few days, an entire community, and then a state, organized itself to receive the refugees who had arrived, especially the women and children. They had to cross 9 million into Polish territory, and nearly 3 million to stay there, half of whom are still there, fully integrated through work and school.

Thousands of Poles themselves drove Ukrainian families at the border, while millions more across the country volunteered to hand out food and blankets, or offer rooms and apartments. “For weeks, we lived like this, in near-burnout, running our main job and working as volunteers, sleeping a few hours each night. it was hard…