The exact words of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who visited Kyiv this week, to express solidarity with Ukraine in the face of what has been interpreted as ‘Russia’s provocation,’ were “Living close to a neighbour like Russia, we have the feeling of living at the foot of a volcano.”

What Prime Morawiecki did not say while comparing nearness with Russia to ‘living near a volcano’ is the fact that the realization puts Poland on its toes. It confers a sense of constant vigilance on Poland. Can that sense of constant vigilance be called a good or bad thing, all things considered?