Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accuses current and former presidents of prioritizing foreign allies over national interests.
Tusk on the Role of the Polish President
“Gentlemen, Presidents Andrzej Duda and Karol Nawrocki, your role is not to lobby for the interests of other countries, not even the closest allies, but to stand guard over the dignity of the Nation and the interests of the Polish State,” wrote Donald Tusk on social media. The Prime Minister referred to Donald Trump’s statement that the United States “never needed” allies from NATO, and that troops sent by these countries to Afghanistan “stayed a bit behind, a bit away from the front line.” Duda and Nawrocki defended the US president’s statement.
Nawrocki: Trump Was Not Thinking About Poland
Karol Nawrocki assessed that Trump’s words were “indefinite” and “he is convinced that he was not thinking about Poland.” “He wouldn’t have told me 48 hours earlier that we are ‘great warriors,’ repeating it several times. However, I notice that the biggest uproar is often raised by those who have not yet apologized for insulting Polish soldiers, and who are Poles or Polish parliamentarians or Polish celebrities,” the president said. “I know what the participation of Polish soldiers in missions in Afghanistan and in Iraq looked like, how much we can count on and our allies can count on Polish soldiers.”
Duda: Trump Did Not Offend Anyone
Meanwhile, Andrzej Duda on Thursday on RMF FM radio stated that “he sees nothing in this statement that would justify the word ‘sorry,’ and the American leader ‘did not offend anyone.’ “If President Trump looks at it from the point of view of how engaged the American army was and how many American soldiers died, then no NATO army can compare in terms of losses with the American army,” he stated. Duda admitted that Trump’s statement was “unfortunate and awkward.”
US President Doubts Allies’ Help
In an interview with FOX News, the President of the United States said that “he is not sure whether the North Atlantic Alliance will exist if it is ever needed.” “We never needed them. They will say they sent troops to Afghanistan. And they did, but they stayed a bit behind, a bit away from the front line,” he stated. After the attacks on the World Trade Center, for the first and only time, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty was invoked, which introduces the principle of collective defense.