Europe Faces Greatest Risk of War in Last Three Decades: Poland

jpnn.com, VIENNA - Europe now faces the greatest risk of war in the last 30 years, said Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau.

Rau warned of such a possibility in front of representatives of the 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who attended the third round of diplomacy in Vienna, Austria, this week.

The meeting was held to ease tensions sparked by Russia's demand that Ukraine not be allowed to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Rau did not mention Russia in his speech but described a number of conflicts that had been alleged to have involved Moscow.

"It seems that the risk of war in the OSCE area is now greater than ever before in the last 30 years," said Rau, who also explained his country's priorities as chairman of the OSCE this year.

"For several weeks, we have been faced with the prospect of a major military escalation in Eastern Europe," he added.

Poland is one of NATO's most vehemently opposed to what they call Russia's revisionist ambitions in Eastern Europe.

"We should focus on a peaceful resolution of the conflict in and around Ukraine," Rau said.