Excerpt from Spiegel Online, June 1
Having studied in Oxford, Radoslaw Sikorski speaks perfect English. And he knows exactly what he wants. Kiev, he says, must push through reforms, battle corruption, improve the control of its borders and do everything in its power to stop the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine. And, he demands at the end, the Ukrainian government should finally eliminate import quotas for Polish products.
Married to US journalist Anne Applebaum, Sikorski, 51, has led the Polish Foreign Ministry since 2007. But his role in the European Union and its relations with its eastern neighbors has become much more crucial since the eruption of the crisis in Ukraine. Europe’s history, he warned before anyone else, would be decided in Ukraine. At the time, though, nobody listened: not the French, who were more interested in the Mediterranean, and not the Germans, who were blinded by their efforts to maintain positive relations with the Russians.
But Sikorski was right. And now, this man who once couldn’t return to his home country because of martial law imposed by the communists wants to prevent a neo-Soviet shadow from being cast across Eastern Europe. Which is why Ukraine has become his most important mission. In recent weeks, he has been a frequent visitor in Kiev. He has also shuttled between Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw and Kiev, often accompanied by his German and French counterparts, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Laurence Fabius. In February, the trio mediated between Maidan protesters and the regime of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych with Sikorski, in his custom-tailored suit, visiting demonstrators in their smoky tents and speeding through the streets of Kiev in an effort to find the president. It was a successful visit, with Sikorski helping to hammer out a compromise deal aimed at ending the chaos in the Ukrainian capital – only to watch it all fall apart within 24 hours.
Now, Sikorski hopes that a civil war can be prevented. Above all, though, he hopes that NATO and the EU will finally take off the kid gloves in their dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He wants to see the West stand up to Moscow and, if necessary, threaten the Russians militarily.
Eric Koch’s new book, New Beginnings, was launched on September 20. The book is available from 
It’s a risk, but looking at the policies the major western powers adopted in dealing with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s suggests it’s a gamble that must be taken.
Then, they abandoned Austria and Dollfuss; they emasculated Czechoslovakia; they ignored the human rights of millions and finally, too late, they stood up to a bully who had become so powerful that it took six years of total war to defeat him.