At the end of April, the US Congress unblocked 60.8 billion dollar aid package for Ukraine. At the time, lawmakers from Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party were quick to announce that it was because of one of their own, President Andrzej Duda.
He met with Trump in New York just a few days ago and talked for two and a half hours about Ukraine’s military needs. He also met with House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“Big applause for President Andrzej Duda, who has acquired powerful resources to fight against Russian imperialism,” PiS lawmaker Dariusz Mateckis wrote on the website X.
“President Andrzej Duda can be happy about a job well done for Poland and the entire region,” added Marcin Przydacz, another PiS member of parliament.
In politically divided Poland, the government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and PiS are at war over everything.
Disagreements range from the EU to abortion, public television, the rule of law, a new airport construction project and even electric cars. However, the bitter opponents definitely agree on one thing: it is necessary to build a good relationship with D. Trump.
“I believe that during the meeting in New York, the president took into account the recommendation of the Polish government and presented Poland’s point of view on security issues,” D. Tusk, an old enemy of A. Duda, wrote on the “X” website. “On these issues, we need as much consensus as possible and as few contradictions as possible.”
This is because both political forces agree on the danger posed by Russia. There is also the risk that the US will withdraw from NATO and abandon Europe if Trump becomes president for a second term.
However, Poland’s most important national interests may be difficult to broadcast in the United States.
The story of A. Duda’s triumph quickly turned into a Polish joke, immortalized in numerous Polish memes and even a song. Also, “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert mocked the Polish president for “cattying to Trump.”
On the other hand, A. Duda’s meeting coincided with changes in the policy of D. Trump and the Republicans in the field of aid to Ukraine.
A day after the meeting, Trump, who has previously spoken favorably of Putin and blamed Ukraine for his political woes, posted on his social media platform: “As everyone agrees, the survival and strength of Ukraine should be far more important to Europe than to us, but it’s important to us too! MOVE EUROPE!”
Friend A. Duda
PiS and A. Duda have a lot of practice talking to D. Trump – he likes to have his ego stroked, Politico writes.
PiS politicians regularly speak at US conservative meetings. A. Duda was one of the only international figures who did not agree to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory in 2020. in the elections, and in 2018 The PiS government even thought of naming the base in Poland “D. Trump’s Fort” to lure the White House into deploying US troops in Poland.
Poland’s PiS, along with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has long been on Trump’s list of favored European parties. The presumptive Republican nominee expressed his sympathy for Duda when the two met in New York.
“[A. Duda] is my friend, we spent four great years together, and we might have to do it again,” Trump said. “We support Poland to the end… I have a lot of respect for this country and a lot of respect for the president.”
However, the current Polish government is wary of D. Trump.
Polish Prime Minister Tusk has previously targeted Trump for his “anti-Ukrainian sentiments” and “pro-Russian attitude”. He urged Mr Johnson to take action on the aid package.
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted a video on social media in March and called on Polish nationalists and conservatives to take advantage of the alleged special relationship with Trump.
“Ukraine needs support… so I am appealing to our nationalists, to those who supported Donald Trump… making the Polish public believe that with [juo] they share a special relationship. Now is the right moment to take advantage of that influence, if it really exists,” said R. Sikorski.
Later, R. Sikorski supported A. Duda’s statements regarding Ukraine before the meeting with D. Trump.
Last week, the head of foreign affairs gave an interview to Axel Springer. He said that D. Trump’s position on Ukraine “is not as black and white as some people think.”
“Donald Trump was right to call on all of us in Europe to spend more on defense,” R. Sikorski said in an interview. He added that Trump also sent anti-tank missiles to Ukraine “before the war when others didn’t.”
Spokesperson for the government
Duda also met with Speaker of the House Mr. Johnson, who defied radicals in his Republican Party to push through the aid package.
However, A. Duda’s role can be overemphasized. US politics is rarely dramatically changed by outsiders.
EU lawmaker Andrzej Halicki, who is Tusk’s right-hand man in Brussels, laughed off the idea that Duda and PiS alone could have changed Trump’s mind on Ukraine.
“Nonsense,” he told Politico, calling such statements by PiS lawmakers a “ridiculous evasion.”
However, Tusko sees an opportunity to use the connections of his right-wing colleagues.
“Sometimes you have to play several pianos and use different diplomatic channels to get what you want,” Halickis said.
However, most political analysts agree that Duda’s meeting with Trump and the latter’s subsequent change in tone on the Ukraine issue were due to chance rather than Polish persuasion.
“This meeting between President Andrzej Duda and former President Donald Trump was probably pleasant … but in this case it didn’t matter. Let’s not exaggerate,” political scientist Zbigniew Lewicki explained to the Polish newspaper “Fakt”.
Based on information from Politico.
