Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized current Prime Minister Donald Tusk, arguing that instead of doing everything possible to attract American troops to Poland, from Germany, Spain, or any other country, Tusk prefers to “score a small point” with Poland’s western neighbor, which, in his view, “both laughs at him and holds him in contempt.”
Tusk was asked during a briefing before departing from Armenia whether, in light of the good relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and Polish President Karol Nawrocki, he expects American troops withdrawn from Germany to be relocated to Poland.
According to the prime minister, the issue is “delicate.” “We probably should not, as a state, poach [troops]. I will not allow Poland to be used in any way to undermine solidarity or cooperation at the European level,” he said.
Morawiecki responded to Tusk’s remarks on the program Sakiewicz’s Cabinet on TV Republika, calling them “mournful words that should never have been spoken.”
“[…] He speaks with a certain flair, even pride, that some mythical ‘European solidarity’ is more important. We know what that ‘European solidarity’ means, when something suits the largest countries, then we are expected to be ‘solidary.’ Thank you very much for such solidarity,”
he said.
In Morawiecki’s view, “this is a momentous time.”
“A unique window of opportunity is opening to establish a permanent U.S. military base, a permanent division. Five thousand troops from Germany, added to our ten thousand, plus another five thousand from the United States, and we already have an almost full American division, heavily armed. Roughly 400 years ago, Poland may have been at a similar level of security,”
he stated.
“My successor, the current prime minister, is committing something more than wrongdoing; he is making a mistake. Instead of doing everything to bring those American troops to Poland, from Germany, Spain, from anywhere, he prefers to earn a small point with our western neighbor, which, I believe, looking at such a statement by the Polish prime minister, both laughs at him and despises him […] I have a fair idea how German chancellors think,”
he added.
Morawiecki further argued that Poland has “a tremendous opportunity to reshape the geopolitical order in our region, in our part of the world.”
“Poland on the eastern flank can be truly secure. We can raise our level of security by two floors. I’m not saying this because I believe solely and unconditionally in American assistance, by no means. I have often said that there is a triad of security. Of these three components, the most important is our Polish army and our defense industry, but NATO and this alliance are the second pillar of that tripod of security,”
he said.
“If NATO is to be stronger in Poland through the presence of American troops, a U.S. division, a permanent base like in Germany, Italy, or Korea, then the Polish prime minister should do everything, drop everything he is currently doing, travel to any capital necessary to finalize this great, momentous task. If he is not doing this, one should ask why,”
Morawiecki concluded.
According to Morawiecki, “the current prime minister is doing a great deal to push the United States away from Poland.”
