Description: Following the railway attacks on the Warsaw – Lublin line, Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorsky, announced that Poland would close the last operating Russian consulate in the city of Gdansk and limit the movement of the remaining diplomatic representatives within the country. In addition to those measures, Polish Defense Minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak stated that Poland would deploy up to 10 thousand soldiers to protect critical infrastructure, support patrolling and monitoring activities, increase the reconnaissance capabilities within the security services and assist in countering sabotage and anti – diversion operations. The operation complements other initiatives launched by the Polish government such as Operation Eastern Sentry and Operation Safe Podlasie, launched to protect the border crossings with Belarus in Jul.
Impact: Poland’s unilateral undertaking of security initiatives and large – scale operations needs to be mirrored across the NATO alliance in order to have ripple effects within the collective security of NATO’s European members. Several Russian hybrid attacks have significantly elevated Poland’s preparedness to counter any future attempts of compromising the country’s national security through hybrid threats. The country is also complementing its operational aspects with diplomatic actions, such as the increased control of movement regarding Russian diplomats and the closure of the Russian consulate in Gdansk, which significantly improves Poland’s public optics in terms of levels of response to security threats. Poland is an exception in terms of defense spending and investments in the sector since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which makes it one of the most important components of NATO’s collective defense on the eastern flank. Other allied countries should increase support or mirror Poland’s actions in increasing their defensive capabilities and preparedness since Russia is expected to continue and escalate on the hybrid warfare front.