There is a “stark difference of opinion between countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic as compared to western European countries such as France or Germany”, writes Viktoriia Lapa from the Institute for European Policymaking at the Bocconi University in Italy, arguing that “westsplaining” still prevails in the European Union.
“By 2022, Russia had launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine. Words of support came from every direction but concrete support was less forthcoming. During the first days of the war, Germany refused to send weapons to Ukraine and even prevented Estonia from sending its old howitzer artillery weapons by withholding approval,” Lapa writes.
“Lithuania, meanwhile, along with Latvia, Estonia and Poland, were sounding the alarm about the threat the situation posed to the rest of the region and called for Europe to support Ukraine “with every means available”. For many in the region, Europe should commit unambiguously to helping Ukraine win the war.”
“Until recently, even French president Emmanuel Macron was suggesting that Ukraine should compromise on some of its sovereignty to accommodate Putin’s demands. Such comments were coldly received in Baltic and eastern European states.”
“When Macron changed his strategy to say that he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, he faced backlash from several European capitals. However, he found an ally in Lithuania.”
“In a positive sign of recognition, EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen mentioned in her annual state of the union address in 2022: ‘We should have listened to the voices inside our union – in Poland, in the Baltics, and all across central and eastern Europe.’”
And this “different stance” is exactly what the dude has been talking about. Poland was sending tanks almost immediately. They literally disappeared from polish warehouses, were seen on trains and fought in Ukraine. Other countries’ tanks were sent what, a year later? If not even more. There wasn’t a nuke flying for that, there probably was a tantrum and “stern warnings” and that’s it.
The issue is simple. All these countries were under soviet rule until very recently. Every eastern country remembers how life was then. There are jokes about polish exports under soviet rule, that Russia exports empty train cars and Poland exports everything else in them to Russia. The country was robbed for decades. People were killed. That’s why “the eastern flank” doesn’t want Ukraine to fail - because they know what happens when it does, and who is next.
So? How does what you said make “send all weapons immediately” the only solution and the obvious and only thing to do?