If there is a place symbolizing the strategic importance acquired by Poland in the Western camp since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it would be Rzeszow-Jasionka airport. Located in the extreme south-east of the country, about a hundred kilometers from the Ukrainian border, it was mainly frequented, before the conflict, by low-cost airlines and tourists. It has become the main gateway for military and humanitarian support destined for kyiv – more than 80% of aid, according to experts, transits there. The comings and goings of jumbo jets, sometimes chartered to the other end of the planet, from Australia or New Zealand, is incessant there. Their load is then transported, by rail or by truck, in Ukraine, to the front.
It has also become the obligatory stage, on the road to kyiv, for foreign politicians, forced to take the train since the closure of Ukrainian civil airspace. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi visited here in June 2022, for their first visit to Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky. Likewise, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, before going to the European Union-Ukraine summit, organized on February 3, or the American President, Joe Biden.
The day after his historic visit to Kiev, on February 20, it was in Warsaw that the head of the White House concluded this trip with strong symbolic significance, marking the first anniversary of the start of the war. In front of an enthusiastic audience gathered in the gardens of the royal palace, he gave a solemn speech, reaffirming his unconditional support for Ukraine, as well as “the rock-solid loyalty of the United States to NATO and its Article 5”that an attack by one of its members will prompt a collective military response.
Before him, the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, of the conservative nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, reminded the podium of his country’s commitment to Ukraine and urged “all European and NATO leaders to support [Kiev] tirelessly (…) and send military aid. “Do not hesitate, do not be afraid! There is no more room for “business as usual” with Russia. Where blood flows, the honest man does no business. » The two men, whom everything separates ideologically, advocate a common line, without concession vis-à-vis the master of the Kremlin.
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