“At this point, it is not enough for Ukraine to defeat Russia militarily. Unless we really put the right order in Russia, Russia will rise again within five to 10 years and will constitute a threat to the rest of the world again,” Walesa said. “Throughout all our history we have had troubles with Russia, and today Russia constitutes trouble again,” he said. “The political system that rules there is terrible. A single individual — Lenin, Stalin before, Brezhnev and now Putin — can cause this terrible threat to the world,” he said. This time Putin has made a mistake. Somehow he has inspired the whole world to unite and oppose Russia. It’s a great opportunity for the world to give the final blow to Russia. The United Nations and the world must force Russia to introduce changes to its political system,” he said, calling for term limits, an independent judiciary, a constitutionally guaranteed free press and other elements of Western democracies. “These are tasks that Poland alone cannot address. I believe in Europe it should be Germany who should be leading, and in the world it should be the United States,” he said. “Here is my appeal to you, United States: Take advantage of the opportunity that has been given to us.”
