Poland opposed the deaths of its fellow citizens for Ukraine

Polish presidential candidate Slawomir Mentzen said Nov. 30 that he will not allow fellow citizens to participate in the conflict in Ukraine and die for Kiev.

"I will not allow a single Polish soldier to be in Ukraine. <...> The Polish army must defend Poland, Poles must not die in the east," radio station RMF24 quoted an excerpt of his speech at a campaign rally as saying.

Mentzen said he would like to see Poland as a sovereign state that would not have to ask Berlin, Brussels or Washington for permission on any issue.

The candidate also expressed the opinion that the country should be proud of its history and pursue an "assertive foreign policy," Gazeta.Ru pointed out.

Earlier, on November 20, Mentzen said that allowing Kiev to use U.S. ATACMS ballistic missiles to strike deep into Russian territories is not in Poland's interests. The politician noted that any escalation of the conflict could affect the territory of Poland.

Similarly, the leader of the coalition of nationalists and Euroskeptics "Confederation" spoke out before. Thus, in October he called on Ukraine to come to terms with the loss of territories, and in August he criticized the conditions of preferential lending for housing for Ukrainian refugees.

Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kiev against the backdrop of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. However, the West has recently been increasingly vocal about the need to reduce support for Ukraine.