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🇵🇱 Poland: "You have been warned."

🇵🇱 Poland: "You have been warned."

A clear and concise message to Russia.

Imran Khan
October 04, 2025

Analysing how language creates meaning and enables power through trust.

Hi Signposter. One of the great joys I have in decoding meaning in news stories is trying to understand who the text is for and what it is actually trying to say. For example, a few days ago, Singapore barred Hong Kong activist Nathan Law from entering the country (after issuing him a visa), saying it ‘would not be in Singapore’s national interests’.

The obvious questions are, firstly, why was Law issued a visa to begin with, only to be denied entry? And secondly, why was he denied entry, if he was issued a visa? My interpretation is that this move by Singapore allows the country to maintain relations with both Western and Eastern political powers (Law is currently based in London in the U.K., while the Hong Kong police have placed a HK$1 million (US$127,600) bounty on his head). Now, Singapore can’t be accused of denying him a visa (they issued him one), nor can they be accused of allowing him to enter the country (which they didn’t).

But again, that’s my opinion. Perhaps there really was some miscommunication between government agencies after all. Who’s to say?

But sometimes though the message is so crystal clear, that there can be no doubt about it’s meaning, purpose, or audience. It happens so rarely, especially in the hallowed halls of the United Nations (the world’s most dysfunctional family dinner), that for once, there’s nothing to decipher.

Or perhaps, there is?

Such a text, or rather speech, was delivered this month at the 80th UN General Assembly Session by the Polish foreign minister/deputy prime minister.

THIS WEEK

🇵🇱 Poland - Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski’s speech at the UN Security Council emergency session at Estonia's request

Here is the transcript of the speech from the 2:04 mark taken verbatim from the official website of the Government of Poland, with specific words and phrases highlighted for semiotic analysis below:

To the representatives of Russia, I have this to say. We know you don't care for international law and you are incapable of living in peace with your neighbours. Your insane nationalism contains a lust for domination that will not cease until you realise that the age of empires is over and that your empire will not be rebuilt. Every drone strike by the heroes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, may God bless them, brings this day closer.

Your three-day special military operation can't even conquer Donbas for ten years now. But the potential for criminal, catastrophic Russian mistakes is still there.

By ordering mobilisation in 1914, you precipitated the start of World War I, which bled Europe white and led to your Bolshevik revolution.

By signing the Hitler-Stalin pact, you helped launch World War II, the bloodiest in history. By sovietising Central Europe, you caused the Cold War.

Don't start another one.

We are peaceful democracies who have studiously avoided actively joining your attempt to reconquer Ukraine. But we will not be intimidated.

I have only one request to the Russian government. If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on NATO territory, please don't come here to whine about it.

You have been warned.

Thank you.

Radosław Sikorski - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Poland

CONTEXT

1️⃣ What was happening?

This emergency session at the UN’s 80th General Assembly was called to discuss the repeated encroachment of Russian military fighter jets and drones into the Baltic Sea states of Estonia and Poland along with neighbouring Romania. These incursions prompted Italian, Swedish, and Finnish fighter jets to scramble in response to what was perceived as Russian aggression and deliberate violation of sovereign territories.

Coming on the heels of Russia’s much extended invasion of Ukraine, Poland and Estonia (both with five and six times the GDP per capita of Ukraine respectively, and NATO members) called for this session at the UN to outline their unified response to Russia’s violations of their airspace.

2️⃣ What was written, and to whom?

Estonia called for the emergency session at the UN last month. Poland delivered the speech primarily to Russia, but also to Poles and other non-NATO nations to make clear Polish intentions and the intentions of NATO.

ANALYSING THE TEXT

Words / Phrases	What it Says	What it Means
don't care for international law / incapable of living in peace	Russia does not want to live in peace	Russia has no capacity to understand the meaning of peaceful existence
insane nationalism / lust for domination	Russia is chasing power and control	Russia is not operating intellectually but from their basest instincts
may God bless them	may God protect the Ukrainian fighters	God, and all that is right, is on Ukraine’s side, not Russia
potential / catastrophic Russian mistakes	there is a high chance that Russia will make a mistake that will impact many others	Russian tactics and equipment are so bad that even if Russia is not trying to be belligerent they will still end up causing destruction
led to your Bolshevik revolution	led to a major revolution in Russia’s history	Russia did it to themselves
Don't start another one	Russia must not start another pan-European war	Russia must limit their military activity to within Ukraine’s borders
please don't come here to whine about it	Russia must not play to double standards when they are the aggressor	Russia has no friends in Europe who will back them publicly
You have been warned	this is Poland’s warning	this is NATO’s warning
Thank you	thank you to the UN for allowing Poland to speak	no thank you to Russia

DECONSTRUCTING THE TEXT

🗝️ Unlocking Meaning

There are two very clear meanings that come through. First, Poland is priming Russia and the region for the possibility of the Ukraine war spilling over into its borders. Poland, along with other neighbouring countries, have already provided asylum, weaponry, and other economic and political support to Ukraine. The idea here is to not only support a neighbour in need but to also limit the active conflict to within Ukraine’s borders. Now, with repeated Russian incursions into their sovereign space, Poland are letting Russia and other NATO members know that they are willing to escalate if that is what Russia wants.

Second, this message is also for Polish citizens to understand that there is a reality where Poland and other NATO members join the war. But, the Ukraine invasion by Russia is not explicitly called a war by Poland. Words like “domination” and “empire” are used, but not war specifically. Sikorski specifically uses the word “war” to refer to the two world wars. As if to say, a pan-European conflict is a war, but not this. Should Poland (and other European nations) enter the conflict, it then becomes a war, but not before.

Why would Poland play such linguistic gymnastics at the UN with regards to a Russian conflict?

👑 Power Play

Because Russia, need we be reminded, is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Along with China (a Russian ally), France (a continental European nation and a member of NATO), the U.K. (an anglophile Europe-adjacent island that is no longer part of the European Union but is a member of NATO), and the U.S. (still the world’s sole super power, and close ally of the U.K. and France, and the most important member of NATO), Russia has the power to veto any UN resolution unilaterally.

So while Poland and Estonia (and by extension NATO) may have their own military response ready to engage with any Russian belligerence, the two Baltic Sea states simply do not possess the same political power as Russia. Which is challenging when a member of the Security Council can veto any resolution against itself.

Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to burn.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Share with me your reasoning. In next week’s issue, I’ll highlight the most thought-provoking responses.

LAST WEEK’S RESPONSES

NEXT WEEK ON SIGNPOST

As of now, we’ll take a look at U.S. president Donald Trump’s latest executive order guaranteeing the security of Qatar after the Israeli missile strike there earlier this year.

Or, if something else more urgent happens next week, we’ll look at that instead.

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