President Trump wants to change Europe with Andrzej Duda. The Polish president’s visit to Washington may help abolish Nord Stream 2 and establish permanent American military bases in Poland.
Trump desperately needs reliable allies in Europe. The UK is leaving the EU and both France and Germany have declared that they do not trust the United States. Poland can be that ally, writes Jędrzej Bielecki in an analysis for Rzeczpospolita.
Law and Justice (PiS) has recently been leading a pro-Atlantic strategy. Although this may lead to aversion from Western Europe, it has led to a reward from Donald Trump – Andrzej Duda’s visit to Washington on September 18th.
The two presidents will have many issues to discuss, which can alter the energetic, geostrategic and military balance of Europe. This has Germany worried so much so that they have applied for access to the Three Seas Initiative. In response, Poland has opted to give Germany an observer’s status. The German minister of economy and energy will also visit Warsaw prior to Duda’s trip to the US.
The two presidents will have many issues to discuss, which can alter the energetic, geostrategic and military balance of Europe
Duda’s visit to the White House will take place immediately after the Three Seas Summit in Bucharest starting on September 17th.
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Nord Stream 2
Poland’s appeal to the US to put sanctions on parties involved in Nord Stream 2 (NS2) has also had effect. Rzeczpospolita writes that a positive American decision is highly probable. The head of German Uniper, one of the five companies behind NS2 has stated that he would withdraw from the project in face of American sanctions.
Andrzej Duda will also hold talks with Trump about converting the Świnoujście LNG terminal into a hub which would deliver American LNG to all of Central Europe.
American military base in Poland
The newly improved Polish-American relations will also present an opportunity to increase US military presence in Poland. Although there are many options as to how this presence would look like, Duda should try to convince Trump to install perhaps a heavy weapons depot with a permanent US military unit.
Such a decision would finally abolish the NATO military restrictions in Central Europe signed twenty years ago to appease Russia. The Polish president’s announcement of a new weapon contract, which will probably land with an American company, should help matters.
