Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, might not shock Europe’s leaders the way President Donald Trump does, but he too has a tough message for them.
“Hear for yourself how it sounds,” he said last month:
Five hundred million Europeans begging 300 million Americans to defend them from 140 million Russians. If you can count, count on yourself. Not in isolation, but with full awareness of your potential. Today, in Europe, we do not lack economic strength, people, but the belief that we are a global power.
Decline is a choice—and for 30 years now, decline is what Europe’s political class has chosen.
Poland, like Ukraine, has always been alert to the danger Russia poses.
But Western European leaders can’t claim Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised them with his full-on invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He’d already grabbed Crimea eight years…
