Former Head of Poland’s Armed Forces Follows Putin’s Example and Says Part of Russia Belongs to Poland – Opinion

Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander

One of the reasons the West is so opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lawless invasion of Ukraine is that it tramples on international order and rules of conduct and sets the stage for numerous other wars where a powerful (or so we thought) neighbor decides it wants to run the affairs of a weaker neighbor. Putin, who has been claiming himself to be the protector of Russian minorities overseas, will undoubtedly turn his attention towards the Baltic States if he wins in Ukraine. However, once the norms of international behavior are changed to accommodate Putin’s tantrums and demands, it opens the door to others.

Freitag, Ex-commander of the Land Forces of the Polish ArmyGeneral Waldemar Skrzypczak made an intriguing proposal on television for the tabloid Super Express.

#Poland 🇵🇱
Skrzypczak (retired general) of the Armed Forces explains his reasons #Warsawshould be able to demand #Russia 🇷🇺 the return of #KaliningardThat was historical. #RussianSince the beginning, and currently occupied #WW2. Proper city name is #KrólewiecOr #Konigsberg. pic.twitter.com/lOO3Xwb8wt

— Grumpy Skipper (@_SkipperGrumpy) March 26, 2022

Google Translate Translates Polish

Former commander of Poland’s ground forces, Waldemar Skrzypczak, said the Kaliningrad region was “under Russian occupation since 1945”.

This territory, he said, was never inhabited. Russian but historically belonged to Prussia and Poland.

“Now it is worth remembering it. The importance of remembering it is well worth the Kaliningrad region, which I think is part of Polish territory … We have the right to Claim this territory, which is occupied by Russia,” Skrzypczak said on the Polish TV show “Super Express”.

f you aren’t familiar with it, the city of Kaliningrad (more accurately Koenigsberg as Kaliningrad is a made-up name created by the USSR) is Russian-occupied territory carved out of Germany at the Potsdam conference.

Kaliningrad is now mostly ethnic Russian only because, in best Communist fashion, the USSR deported the Germans who’d lived there for a millennia or so and replaced the population with Russians. Similar actions were taken in the Baltic States by the Soviets. Over 10% of the population were deported to Siberia and Gulag when Soviet troops entered the country as part the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

The only association I can find of Koenigsberg with Russia is the four years it was occupied by Russian troops during the Seven Years’ War… It was a major city in East Prussia. Poland’s claim, as far as I can tell, is pretty flimsy, but no less so than Putin claiming the authority to direct Ukraine’s foreign and domestic policy.

Now that we’ve moved past the silliness of fixed borders, there is no reason that Poland should not demand that Kaliningrad be handed over because it is territory that has no connection to Russia, and it was obtained by theft. Poland must demand that Kaliningrad’s subject be made open for negotiation and international arbitration. I’m sure there are Russians in Kaliningrad who are sick and tired of Putin and living in a Third World sh**hole that is barely recognizable as a seaport; Poland should find them, fund them and fete them. It is absurd that Poland should have to fight over this. You can just whip up mass movements and marche several hundred thousand Poles across the border. As a revitalized Polish Army looks on (thanks Vlad for inducing the fear that led to Poland’s army being doubled), In 1975, King Hassan II Morrocco took control of the Spanish Sahara using the same technique.

Ukraine could play the same cards in Transnistria where Russians make up a mere 30% and Ukrainians, Belarussians, and a large majority of Transnistria’s population. It is possible to replicate the system. It is easy to set up a fake ethnic rebellion, arm it and support it. When the legitimate government starts to crack down, send in your troops, form a militia, and declare independence while howling “genocide.” If Ukraine really wants to go big, it should make a claim for the Kuban region of Russia which is majority Ukrainian. Maybe it could create some “separatist republics” there.

What can’t be allowed to happen is for Russia to walk away from Ukraine thinking that it has established a right for Russia to invade whoever the hell it wants to and be immune from geopolitical repercussions.