Marta Kruzynska, Intel: What does America's Golden Age announced by Donald Trump mean for Europe?
Bronisław Komorowski, former President of the Republic of Poland: – Unity is a condition for the prosperity and strength of the Western countries. This is a condition for security and economic development.
What are your biggest concerns regarding relations with the new president of Europe and the United States?
– What worries me is that there are announcements about competition between the US and Europe and they are even going to get the weapon of declaring a tariff war against Europe. This is a sign of bad relationships. This rivalry, born of competition between the United States and a united Europe, is likely to escalate further.
Will Donald Trump soften his tone or follow through on his campaign promises as he made in his last speech?
– This is all what politicians say during and immediately after elections. Then it changes. We don't know who Donald Trump will surround himself with. In his first term, the advisers played a key role in curbing Trump's temper and unpredictable nature, but now Trump speaks very negatively about them and sees them as traitors. It's hard to put your hopes in an unknown advisor, but hope eventually disappears.
So should we expect him not to keep his promise?
–This is a common occurrence in the political world. I hope that the United States will play an active role in the Western world as a whole.
What will this positive role look like? We've heard from President Donald Trump that this term will be very different than his first.
– Every politician who becomes head of state says that everything will change, but then it turns out that the majority will not change. Don't worry too much about election rhetoric.
Are those who say the United States will become more radicalized under Trump exaggerating?
– If the United States wants to play the role of the world's leading power, it must have the support of the entire Western world. This unity must be built on a foundation of common values, but also common economic and political interests (not just America's).
“America first,” Donald Trump said.
– That's right…if Trump only sees through the prism of American interests, America will fall out of the role of leader of the Western world. Because a leader is someone who leads the whole herd to better pastures, and not someone who only cares about himself.
Will this victory make Europe more concerned about security?
– The aftermath of the Ukraine war is already causing remorse. However, the change in the US president's position may deepen this remorse. What happened in Germany was comparable to the Copernican revolution. Germany is moving away from pinning its political hopes on cooperation with Russia. They also abandoned national pacifism and focused on military armament. Germany will become the second country after the United States to provide effective support to Ukraine. Mr. Trump could act as a catalyst to accelerate the process already occurring in Europe.
Because you have doubts about his intentions?
– Today, unfortunately, some people doubt the new US president's willingness to fulfill his obligations to Europe in security matters. We hear about the need to build an independent European defense architecture and a common EU foreign policy.
What do you make of the announcement that the war in Ukraine will end in 24 hours? Was this campaign rhetoric?
– I think that's how it should be treated. Donald Trump is probably very confident that he will have a beneficial influence on the development of events, but given such widespread uncertainty, he is unlikely to surrender to Putin and make peace at any cost. You have the right to ask whether it means the desire to achieve something. of Ukraine.
The peace plan whose details were leaked to the media looks like this.
– President Trump has to choose whether he wants to be a modern-day Churchill, who bravely led Britain through war, or a Chamberlain, admired in Europe for bringing peace from Munich. However, this peace meant handing over Czechoslovakia to Hitler.
Some say Donald Trump's ego is too big to raise the white flag.
– This is an important discovery. It may be important for Donald Trump to remain in the role of political tough guy who sets the terms and gets what he wants. In the words of a famous Polish politician, he doesn't want to be politically vulnerable. We can wrap the issue of peace like candy in colorful wrapping paper, but questions about its terms will always remain. Will it be a victory for Putin or for the West and Ukraine? For me, victory means the survival of an independent Ukraine within acceptable borders and a pro-Western course.
– This is certainly a serious defeat for the Democratic Party. Kamala Harris fought bravely, but she lost. There are many causes for any election loss or success.
– The change in Democratic candidates played a big role here. The second reason is that I misread the expectations of American society. Key issues such as defending democracy, human rights, and abortion failed to convince voters. For them, the slogan of raising Americans' standard of living and improving economic security by fighting illegal immigration was more important. Republicans are better at reading public expectations. They put up more convincing election banners. A massive social media campaign orchestrated by billionaire Elon Musk was also important.
PiS wins following Donald Trump's victory. I treat this as a sign of good luck for them. Right?
– They act as if they won the election. Particularly disturbing to me was the euphoric applause for Trump in the Polish parliament. This is a manifestation of lack of self-respect and dignity. How can there be such a demonstration in Polish Same because of someone else's choice? It would be different if Trump was a guest. PiS has no dignity. This is a manifestation of Polish mongrelism. It's like when the Polish president crouched down next to Donald Trump while he was sitting behind his desk and made him say he was signing a document. He was treated like a loser. We've had enough of this humiliation for Poland. You have to respect yourself. That way, you can expect others to respect you as well.
– It's hard to expect such a blunt statement from a politician. Perhaps he was immediately aware of the fact that even if Biden won, the PiS government would not resign. This is a manifestation of PiS's hypocrisy. There is no dignity, no honor, no self-respect. What does it mean to suggest that the survival of the Polish government depends on the outcome of the US elections?
PiS also cited an election campaign recording of Prime Minister Donald Tusk in which he said US services had not ruled out that Donald Trump was scouted by Russia 30 years ago. are. Didn't he give fuel to the opposition?
– Every thoughtless remark can be fuel for your opponent, and you need to remember that. PiS is doing a stupid and worthless thing by trying to make this an issue that affects Polish-American relations. If PiS values and declares that it values good relations with the new government, it should help build good relations rather than add fuel to the fire. They are waiting for every opportunity to promote political competition, even at the expense of Poland's interests.
PiS is not alone in emphasizing its good relationship with Donald Trump. The PSL also said: “This is the closest we have to a new president.” Is this a good tactic?
– Everyone wants to gain something from being compared to the success of others. They probably calculated that if they were willing to cooperate, there would be some merit. We need to see not just what the new administration says, but how it acts. I don't blame the National Party for saying there was no reason to attack Trump after the election.
How do you evaluate the common candidate idea proposed by PSL?
– That's an interesting concept. If this idea had been proposed by Donald Tusk a few months ago, a large section of public opinion would probably have cheered. As reported by PSL, there are reservations and doubts. I think it's a good idea, but it's too late. For example, it was possible to organize primaries within the entire coalition.
– Even though I won, today I rate this idea moderately positively.
・It was an opportunity to extend the election campaign and attracted the attention of the public, but it also created tension within the party. From a party leader's perspective, primaries may be a solution that relieves them of the responsibility of selecting candidates. Radosław Sikorski and Rafał Trzaskowski will likely have supporters in slightly different segments of the constituency. Once the PO has made a selection, it is important that the PO supports the nominee.
Radosław Sikorski says his electoral ceiling is higher than Rafał Trzaskowski's. Do you agree with this opinion?
– Radosław Sikorski undoubtedly has unparalleled political experience in areas that overlap with presidential powers. No one has more experience in defense and foreign policy. This, as well as the biography of a radical anti-communist activist, is his great asset.
– There are other very important benefits as well. For example, an excellent ability to attract people's attention. I saw how Tochaskovsky dealt with the circle of rural wives of the Suwalki region. On the other hand, Shimon Horounia is able to seduce people with his intellectual wit. No one has a chance here. The party leadership will have to think seriously about this.
Interview by Marta Kruzynska
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