Polish MEP Threatens to 'Push Russia Away From Our Borders'

A Polish representative to the European parliament has called on the EU to take a hard line against Russia, and for Poland to pursue measures which would "push Russia away from our borders."

Polish Law and Justice Party (PiS) representative and EU parliament member Ryszard Czarnecki has called on Poland and the European Union to take a hard line against Russia, proposing a four point plan aimed at containing Russia and pushing it away from Poland's borders.

"Our determined resistance is necessary. It is in our national interest to push Russia away from our borders," Czarnecki noted at a press conference in Poland's parliament, the Sejm, on Monday, Radio Polsha reports.

Czarnecki's four-point plan consists of "stopping Russia in Ukraine," and of preventing it from achieving its goal, which Czarnecki says "is to restore an empire."

His plan calls for hitting Russia with another round of economic sanctions, including cutting Russia off from the SWIFT banking system. Secondly, it calls for Europe to finance grand infrastructure projects in Ukraine. Third, it notes the need to strengthen the military capabilities of NATO's East European border states. Finally, the plan calls for the arming of Ukraine, with "each country deciding for itself whether to provide offensive weaponry or simply bullet proof vests and helmets."

PiS, the second-largest party in the Sejm, is gearing up for the country's presidential and parliamentary elections, which are set for May and October of this year, respectively. In the presidential elections, PiS's candidate Andrej Duda has taken a demonstratively hardline stance against Russia, criticizing German and French efforts toward regulating the conflict in Ukraine earlier this month and noting that "there are no economic interests that would allow us as honest people to sell Ukraine." PiS, which  was founded in 2001 by the Kaczyński twins, Lech and Jarosław, is characterized as being socially conservative and nationalist. Meanwhile, the Democratic Left Alliance's Magdalena Ogorek has called for more negotiation with Russia, stating that whatever happens, "Russia is and will remain our neighbor," adding that as president, she would not be afraid to "pick up the phone and call" the Russian president. The current frontrunner in the presidential race is incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski from the Christian democratic Civic Platform party.