The former U.S. ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, has thrown cold water on Law and Justice (PiS) hopes under a Trump-led administration.
Speaking to TVP Info, the diplomat came down in favor of Warsaw’s liberal mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, related to his presidential run, saying that he “knows how to establish relationships with both Democrats and Republicans.”
“I consider him a friend, we met when I was in Warsaw. President Trump also has a close relationship with President Duda, but I do not expect these relations to change significantly. The mayor of Warsaw is always welcome in Washington. Relations between the countries will not change,” Mosbacher said.
According to Onet journalist, Witold Jurasz, apart from the expression of sympathy for Trzaskowski, “a much more interesting aspect of Ambassador Mosbacher’s statement is that she actually supported Trzaskowski in the race for the presidency against the Law and Justice candidate.”
The Trump admin’s new secretary of state pick has a history of battles with Polish PM Donald Tusk, as well as defending Hungary from EU sanctions. https://t.co/C7s4WZkugp
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) November 13, 2024“Contrary to appearances, this should not come as a surprise to anyone, although for PiS politicians – if they notice it at all, of course – it may be a shock. Per Onet sources, Trump’s entourage, for at least several reasons, does not reciprocate PiS’ ardent feelings towards the future administration,” he says.
The first reason is that the Civic Platform (PO) is “not one that dreams of Poland’s power, which Americans treat as something exotic, first of all, but also as an element that could potentially be a problem.”
The journalist also points out that the incoming administration will “remember the numerous moments of tactlessness on the part of the PiS government towards the Biden administration, as well as the public challenges to American policy. Contrary to the belief of Polish right-wing politicians, PiS did not score points with Trump with its disputes with Biden,” Jurasz says.
There is, however, also the issue of ideology. “Trump, who – let us recall – has often ostentatiously shown himself with LGBT flags, is ideologically closer to the Civic Platform, which pretends to turn left, but is in fact invariably conservative, than to PiS, which, by considering the candidacy of, for example, Przemysław Czarnek for president, shows Americans a face that is politically unacceptable even on the contemporary American right,” the journalist writes.
And then there is the cold hard truth, Jurasz writes that “Americans do not care who governs Poland, because whoever governs it – given Poland’s dependence on the United States – will be their ally anyway.”
Ironically, Przemysław Czarnek, mentioned above, has flown to the U.S. to try to win votes from the Polish diaspora. It is said he has the greatest chance of winning the presidential nomination for PiS, reports Do Rzeczy.
“Today, I’m flying to the United States, I’ll be back in a few days. I have a few meetings with the Polish community, I’ll be in Chicago, among other places,” Czarnek told “Super Express” newspaper.
“We will strive to ensure that the government in Poland changes as soon as possible, because today, after Donald Trump’s victory, relations with the United States need to be built by someone who would respect what is happening in the United States and democracy in the United States,” he told a wPolsce24 news program.
However, there is plenty of evidence to contradict the assertion that Trump will be neutral in Poland’s politics, including previous spats with members of his incoming administration with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
