Last night Ukraine suffered yet another violent and indiscriminate aggression by Putin’s army, a fact to which we all seem to be sadly accustomed. But there was one noteworthy development: several Russian drones breached the border of Poland, which is none other than the border of our Union.
The attack forced Warsaw’s jets to proceed with a dozen or so shoot-downs to avert the threat. Other NATO allies, including Italy, also flew their own planes to provide support. One drone even crashed on a house, damaging it.

Donald Tusk, President of the Polish Council, has placed territorial defence on high alert and invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty in NATO, an article that provides for consultations with other allies when a member country perceives a threat to its territorial integrity, political independence or security. We are not yet at the point of an armed confrontation, then, but at the assessment of next steps.
Let us hope for some concrete steps, since, as De André sang, ‘the countermeasures up to that point were limited to invective’. But let us have no illusions, the most likely scenario envisages strong condemnations, full solidarity, at the most new economic sanctions. In short, we are still at thoughts and prayers.

Putin puts Europe to the test

There is, however, a legitimate doubt: why is it that Russia at a time when it would apparently be convenient for it to negotiate instead becomes more aggressive? This was not a mistake, this is a deliberate act. Putin is testing our patience, our ability to react, our will.
And unfortunately we are giving him something to gloat about as victims of his mad Russian roulette.

We cannot be pushed around any longer, we cannot give in any longer. Every time the Russian Federation has attacked another country, we in the West have turned away based on a cynical calculation that does us no credit: let it go in order to avoid a direct confrontation. Too bad the calculation was not only cynical: it was also wrong. So we find ourselves where we are today, after the red line crossed last night and promptly moved further by the infamous cowardice of ourselves and our politicians. How far can that line move? What will we accept next, after some formal condemnation? Perhaps to cede a portion of our Union’s territory to the occupier? Perhaps the invasion of Finland?

Let us get out of the dream of a fairy-tale world that does not exist and has never existed. To defend ourselves against Russia we must take off the gloves and start showing them what we are capable of. No more do-goodism, no more pacifism, no more fear. Now the measure is full and a proportionate military response seems the only deterrent. Not to go to war today, but to avoid it tomorrow.

The real meaning of peace

Surely there will come those who will invoke peace by contrasting it with the bogeyman of nuclear war, which, according to certain commentators, should have broken out at least four or five times already. Well, we should start asking ourselves about the deeper meaning of the word peace.
Does it mean the absence of armed conflict? If so, then occupation without resistance would also be peace, but is it really? The Second World War has taught us that sometimes even war is necessary for the defence of peace, but above all that always lowering one’s head in the face of the dictator on duty excites his mad intentions, it does not quell them. A lesson as valuable as it is apparently forgotten.
It seems that all that matters now is to avoid (read delay) confrontation at all costs. It is therefore not surprising that in the Italian public debate one often hears talk of escalation and that one sadly heard of it again today, not in reference to the aggression against Poland, but with regard to Tusk’s appeal to NATO. This is part of the symptoms of that collective madness that involves most of our continent, or at least its western portion: a madness according to which the peace we enjoy is a perpetual peace, guaranteed once and for all. But conquered how and by whom? This is always forgotten.

Today has blatantly (and, for many, unexpectedly) shown us the reality that the Ukrainians have been trying to make us see for years now: we Europeans may perhaps delude ourselves that we are not at war with Russia, but Russia is certainly at war with us. It is time to wake up.