We must learn to live with war
An interview with Jacek Siewiera, former head of the National Security Bureau in Poland. Interviewer: Aureliusz M. Pędziwol
June 22, 2026 -
Aureliusz M. Pędziwol
Jacek Siewiera
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InterviewsIssue 4 2026Magazine
AURELIUSZ M. PĘDZIWOL: We have both heard the words of Nataliya Panchenko, the head of the Euromaidan-Warsaw initiative, who said that the war in her home country, Ukraine, might accompany her for the rest of her life. What impression do those words make on you?
JACEK SIEWIERA: I fear that we must all get used to a situation where an armed conflict is an integral part of our reality. Russia’s war against Ukraine clearly shows that the consequences of military action, such as loss of life and economic destruction, occur far from the front line. Cities are on the front line, so to speak. It is they, above all, that are under threat, not only from hybrid warfare but also from conventional military operations, missile strikes and air strikes. The Middle East only confirms this. The capitals of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain have found this out the hard way. Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama – each of these cities has experienced the violence associated with military operations, having been attacked in a war in which they were not a party.
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