每日英語跟讀 Ep.K335: Ukraine? Putin’s Bigger Fear May Lie in Poland
Tomasz Czescik, a Polish archaeologist and television journalist, walks his dog each morning through a forest near his home here on NATO’s eastern flank, wandering along the edge of a green chain-link fence topped with razor wire.
波蘭考古學家和電視記者 Tomasz Czescik 每天早上都會帶著他的狗穿過他家附近的森林，這裡位於北約東翼，沿著頂部是鐵絲網的綠色鏈環柵欄的邊緣徘徊。
He enjoys the fresh air and morning quiet — until loudspeakers on the other side of the fence, strung with “Keep Out” signs in Polish, English, German and Russian, start blasting “The Star-Spangled Banner” at high volume.
他喜歡清新的空氣和清晨的寧靜——直到另一邊的擴音器柵欄的一側，掛著波蘭語、英語、德語的“Keep Out”標誌和俄羅斯人，開始大音量播放美國國歌“星條旗”。
“I don’t know anyone who has ever been inside there,” Czescik said, pointing across the fence toward a cluster of haze-shrouded buildings in the distance.
“我不知道有誰去過裡面，”切西克說，越過柵欄指向一簇被陰霾籠罩的建築物在遠處。
The fence is the outer perimeter, guarded by Polish soldiers, of a highly sensitive U.S. military installation, expected to be operational this year, which Washington insists will help defend Europe and the United States from ballistic missiles fired by rogue states like Iran.
圍欄是由波蘭士兵守衛的外圍外圍敏感的美國軍事設施，預計今年投入使用，華盛頓堅稱，這將有助於保護歐洲和美國免受伊朗等流氓國家發射的彈道導彈的攻擊。
But for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the military base in Poland and another in Romania are evidence of what he sees as the threat posed by NATO’s eastward expansion — and part of his justification for his military encirclement of Ukraine. The Pentagon describes the two sites as defensive and unrelated to Russia, but the Kremlin believes they could be used to shoot down Russian rockets or to fire offensive cruise missiles at Moscow.
但對於俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·普京來說，波蘭的軍事基地和羅馬尼亞證明了他認為的威脅北約東擴——以及他為軍隊辯護的部分理由包圍烏克蘭。五角大樓將這兩個地點描述為防禦性的，與俄羅斯無關，但克里姆林宮認為它們可用於擊落俄羅斯火箭或向莫斯科發射進攻性巡航導彈。
As he threatens Ukraine, Putin has demanded that NATO reduce its military footprint in Eastern and Central Europe — which Washington and European leaders have refused to do. Putin has been fuming about U.S. missiles near Russia’s border since the Romanian site went into operation in 2016, but the Polish facility, located near the village of Redzikowo, is only about 100 miles from Russian territory and barely 800 miles from Moscow itself.
普京威脅烏克蘭，要求北約削減軍力在東歐和中歐的足跡——華盛頓和歐洲領導拒絕了。普京一直對附近的美國導彈感到憤怒自羅馬尼亞站點於 2016 年投入運營以來的俄羅斯邊境，但位於 Redzikowo 村附近的波蘭工廠距離距俄羅斯領土 100 英里，距莫斯科僅 800 英里。
“Are we deploying missiles near the U.S. border? No, we are not. It is the United States that has come to our home with its missiles and is already standing at our doorstep,” Putin said in December at his annual news conference.
“我們是否在美國邊境附近部署導彈？不，我們不是。它是帶著導彈來到我們家的美國
站在我們家門口，”普京在去年 12 月的年度新聞中說會議。
Beata Jurys, the elected head of Redzikowo, said she had never been inside the facility, installed on the grounds of a former Polish air force base and a shuttered civilian airport. But the finger-pointing by Moscow and Washington has made her village a potential target in the event of war.
Redzikowo 的民選負責人 Beata Jurys 說她從來沒有進去過該設施安裝在前波蘭空軍基地的場地上和一個關閉的民用機場。但是莫斯科的指責和華盛頓已將她的村莊作為發生戰爭的潛在目標。
“If something happens," she said, "we will be the first to know, unfortunately.”
“如果發生什麼事，”她說，“不幸的是，我們將是第一個知道的。” Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6125264