Poland Prepares ‘Absolutely Huge’ Welcome for Trump

[JustJohn or JJ]

The Wall Street Journal

Poland Prepares ‘Absolutely Huge’ Welcome for Trump


Nation plans an elaborate reception for president as he gives a major speech in Warsaw this week



By Anton Troianovski
July 5, 2017 5:30 a.m. ET


WARSAW—Like many of his fellow Polish pro-government lawmakers, Dominik Tarczynski is sending a busload of constituents to Warsaw on Thursday to cheer for President Donald Trump. The buses are being provided by a foundation close to the governing party.

“It’s going to be huge—absolutely huge,” Mr. Tarczynski said of the coming welcome for Mr. Trump. “They just love him, the people in Poland—they just really love him.”

Poland is working to put on a hero’s welcome for Mr. Trump as he prepares to give a major speech to thousand of Poles in a Warsaw square. Behind that effort is a recognition across the continent that Mr. Trump has the potential to change the balance of power in Europe.

President Barack Obama formed a close bond with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and backed her liberal worldview, her acceptance of immigrants, and her support for a deeply integrated European Union. Now it is nationalist governments such as Poland’s that hope Mr. Trump will see them as ideological kindred spirits and back their push to loosen the European Union and rebalance it away from Berlin.

“There’s this new success—Trump’s visit,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chairman of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party, said at a party congress over the weekend. Tweaking European officials who are nervous that Mr. Trump’s visit could deepen the divide on the continent, Mr. Kaczynski went on: “They’re envious of it!”

Poland, where the conservative Law and Justice government took over in 2015, is locked in an escalating feud with the EU’s executive body in Brussels and with Western European capitals. The European Commission has said the government’s changes to the Polish judicial system, including appointing its own judges to the Constitutional Court, undermine the rule of law.

French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Poland was rejecting European democratic principles and treating the bloc like “a supermarket,” implying it is taking advantage of the EU without following all of its norms.

German politicians often slam Poland for failing to take in refugees and for reducing press freedoms.

In Mr. Trump, some Polish politicians and commentators see a leader who has campaigned against accepting refugees and criticized the EU and Germany’s influence in the bloc.

“Regarding refugees, the Polish government has the same position as Americans—we want strict restrictions on refugees,” said Krzysztof Mróz, a Law and Justice lawmaker who plans to dispatch two buses full of Trump fans—98 people—from his district at 2 a.m. on Thursday morning for the 300-mile drive to Warsaw.


Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party, says, ‘There’s this new
success—Trump’s visit.’ Photo: kacper pempel/Reuters

But some critics of Poland’s government are wary of Mr. Trump’s trip. Bartosz Wieliński, foreign editor of the liberal Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, said the government appeared to be turning Mr. Trump’s speech into a “partisan spectacle” and that his public reception would amount to a “Potemkin village.”

“This visit, I think, is a kind of opportunity for the ruling government party to show that Poland is not completely isolated internationally,” said Rafal Pankowski, a Warsaw political scientist.

In Western Europe, some officials worry that Mr. Trump will fan the flames of anti-immigrant, anti-European Union sentiment just like he endorsed Brexit ahead of the British referendum on leaving the EU last summer.

“It’s clear that what the Poles want is to turn their back on France and Germany,” a senior EU official said. “Trump is surely not helping.”

People close to the Polish government say Mr. Trump’s visit isn’t about deepening the east-west gulf in the EU, but about backing up Poland on issues including countering Russia and on energy security.

“I don’t think that Trump would like to divide Europe,” said Adam Bielan, a senior lawmaker in the governing camp. “We are very glad that he sees the role of Poland in the region and in Europe.”

To be sure, many Poles are wary of Mr. Trump, in part because of his calls for closer cooperation with Russia—a country that some of them see as an existential threat.

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted this spring, 23% of Poles are confident that Mr. Trump will do the right thing in world affairs, compared with 11% across the border in Germany.

The preparations for Mr. Trump’s visit—a welcome that Mr. Tarczynski said will be far more “emotional” than Warsaw’s receptions for Mr. Obama—are the latest example of countries jockeying for advantage as the U.S. president puts past American foreign-policy tenets into question. In addition to speaking to Poles at a public square, Mr. Trump will address 12 central European, Baltic, and Western Balkan leaders who are gathering in Warsaw.

Several organizations close to the Law and Justice party are also drumming up supporters to cheer for Mr. Trump. One of them, the nationalist Gazeta Polska Clubs, is touting Mr. Trump’s address in Warsaw on Thursday as comparable to John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech of 1963. Last month, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski promised an enthusiastic welcome.

“If Trump visits Poland, he will see a country where he won’t see demonstrations, criticism, and for sure he will see a society that will receive him with open arms,” Mr. Waszczykowski said in a radio interview in June.

Mr. Kaczynski, Poland’s most powerful politician, even posed in a red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap in April, a Trump trademark. He did so in a meeting with Matthew Tyrmand, a Polish-American journalist who has written about Poland for the conservative U.S. outlet Breitbart News.

“You’re dealing with a political dynamic in Poland on the ground that understands Trumpian populism,” Mr. Tyrmand said. Mr. Trump’s trip, Mr. Tyrmand said, “has huge implications for reshaping the geopolitics in a new presidential era.”

U.S. officials say Mr. Trump’s trip will be about strengthening trans-Atlantic bonds and supporting one of America’s staunchest allies. Poland is one of the few North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to meet the organization’s target of spending 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said last week.

—Valentina Pop in Brussels and Martin Sobczyk in Warsaw contributed to this article.

[JustJohn or JJ]

Trump in Poland: Five reasons why he is going there


By Kevin Ponniah BBC News
3 hours ago





Donald Trump is travelling to the German city of Hamburg to attend a gathering of world leaders. But before he arrives, the US president will stop in Poland, to the delight of its conservative, nationalist government.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who leads the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), has said others in Europe are envious of the visit, mentioning Britain in particular.

Later this month, Mr Trump will also make a presidential visit to France.

So, why Poland first?


1. A warm welcome

US presidents are almost guaranteed a friendly reception in Poland, and this aspect of the trip will appeal to President Trump and make for good pictures at home.

Authorities in Hamburg are expecting up to 100,000 protesters at the G20, and mass demonstrations are also expected in London when he finally makes a long-awaited state visit to the UK.

But in Poland, the White House will be able to breathe easy.

The ruling party will bus in 50 people per parliamentarian, according to the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, guaranteeing a friendly crowd of thousands for President Trump's speech in Warsaw's symbolic Krasinski Square on Thursday. The square is home to a monument commemorating the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis.

Some argue the bussed-in crowds are unnecessary.

"Unless they do something wrong, pretty much every American president is very popular and will get a warm welcome," says Professor Aleks Szczerbiak, an expert on Polish politics at the University of Sussex.

2. On the same page

Both Poland's political leaders and Mr Trump see themselves as being at the vanguard of a populist movement against liberal elites who have dominated politics in the West in recent years.

They unashamedly put what they see as the national interest first, be it on climate change or migration, and receive the wrath of many for it.

"Both Kaczynski and Trump perceive themselves as those who can stop this liberal-left political correctness offensive in the world," says Michal Szuldrzynski, a columnist for Rzeczpospolita, an influential centre-right newspaper.

"Paradoxically, the more you criticise Mr Trump and the more you criticise Mr Kaczynski, the more they feel they are right."

Since the PiS came into power in 2015, Poland has taken a confrontational stance within the EU and refused to abide by mandatory refugee resettlement quotas.

Mr Kaczynski once said that migrants travelling to Europe were carrying dangerous diseases.

Reforms made by the government at home have also attracted criticism from human rights groups and led to further conflict with the European Commission, which says the rule of law is at risk.

However, while there have been calls for Mr Trump to raise issues related to human rights and democracy on his visit, few expect him to do so.

His address at Krasinski Square will "celebrate Poland's emergence as a European power", US National Security Adviser HR McMaster says.

Essentially, analysts say, it's a win-win for both sides - Mr Trump will give Poland the prestige of a visit that will bolster the government against critics that say it has isolated itself, and he will get a warm reception in a major European country run by a government that shares some of his ideology.


3. Spend (on defence) and you shall receive

The visit also allows Mr Trump to demonstrate that those who meet the Nato military spending target of 2% of gross domestic product will be rewarded. He is expected to praise Poland for being one of a handful of Nato members that do so.

About 900 US troops are currently in Poland as part of wider efforts to soothe the anxieties of Nato members in Eastern Europe fearful of Russia.

Indeed Mr Trump's election caused some worry in Poland given expectations at the time that he could strike a grand bargain with Russian President Vladimir Putin - anathema to the Polish right.

Those fears have been somewhat allayed since then but many in the region are hoping he will re-commit while he is in Warsaw to Nato's Article 5 - the principle that an attack on any ally is an attack on them all.

4. Snub to the EU?

During his Poland trip, Donald Trump will address the Three Seas Summit, a Polish and Croatian initiative bringing together 12 nations between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Sea.

The summit is part of efforts to portray Poland "as a kind of regional leader" outside the Franco-German-dominated EU power structure with which it has clashed, says Prof Szczerbiak.

And by dropping in, Mr Trump will be seen giving his blessing to a project that some EU diplomats eye with suspicion.

"The message is that the US continues to show it's not wedded simply to working with the existing European elites and that it's quite happy" to build ties with governments challenging Brussels on certain issues, Prof Szczerbiak says.

5. It's about the gas

The Polish government is trying to become less energy-dependent on Russia and last month the first ever US liquefied natural gas shipment arrived.

For dealmaker Donald Trump, this is another win-win. Poland and other eastern European countries have a strategic imperative to diversify their energy sources, and the White House wants to sell more US gas overseas.

He will be bringing that message to leaders at the Three Seas Summit.

[karl]

It is good for both Mr. Trump and Poland together for a nice change. It seems the New American President Trump has faced an uphill battle with very sever criticisms since taking office from just about every turn in the day. This type of treatment would sour most any persons perspective.

Mr. Trump is a business man turned politician and should be able to turn some nice deals that will profit both The Polish and American pockets. With this, perhaps also to create a more self reliant Poland to face their fears of the Russians. This then to save the cost and wear upon combat machines with NATO incursions upon foreign soil simply to make a point with the Russians.

In the matter of such distaste of Germany by Mr. Jaroslaw Kacynski is still a mystery from our point of view. If for him to hang his hat on past history makes no reasonable sense unless he is seeking to be a world power of some kind.

For as above, perhaps the Polish visit by Mr. Trump will enlighten him a bit of Europe to at least make him a bit more smarter for the coming G20 meeting. Mr. Trump is a very quick learner, with this, perhaps the Poles will be good teachers for him.

For in the aspect of Mr. Trump swinging commercial dealings with Poland in the matter of selling US sourced earth gas. This is not a sensible matter to ship by sea such energy, this for the reason of cost. It is much more commercially viable to ship by pipe line once the construction has been paid for with use. Of course if the intention is to sell to Poland the commodity at a loss, then this would account for his reasoning, If, this is his true intention and not a smoke screen. For it is not just his credibility that is on the line, but the credibility of the USA in the eyes of the known world.

Karl

[Jaga]

Trump is already in Poland, here are parts of his speech. For his wife it is quite a familiar territory since she is Slavic, she understands the culture and language. But what about eliminating visa to travel to the US? Trump would definitively not do that.

wiadomosci.wp.pl/prezydent-donald-trump-przylecial-do-polski-wraz-z-malzonka-pomachali-polakom-6141003619330177a

here is his speech in Warsaw that Polish Americans are incredible

[Jaga]

Trump's visit in Poland was also negotiated with Croatia's president, Grabar-Kitarović, a woman in red dress. By the way, there is a boarder conflict between Croatia and Slovenia, where Melanie is from. Slovenia is winning its claim in European coart, but Croatia would probably not agree to the verdict.

www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/20070-president-grabar-kitarovic-to-meet-with-us-president-trump

[pieter]

[pieter]

[kaima]

Yahoo News
Judd Legum
Editor-In-Chief, ThinkProgress
Jul 6

Trump’s disturbing, incoherent press conference in Poland

A gift to Vladamir Putin on the eve of their first meeting.



U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks during a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda at Royal Castle, Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Warsaw. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

On the eve of his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump held a press conference in Poland and declared that “nobody really knows” who meddled in the 2016 election.

Trump’s assessment breaks sharply from the U.S. intelligence community, which has pinned the blame squarely on Russia.

Trump was asked: “Will you once and for all, yes or no, say that Russia definitive interfered with the 2016 election.”

He refused to do so, saying that “it could have been other people in other countries.”

Strangely, as Trump cast doubt on whether Russia was involved, he also sharply criticized Obama for not taking action against Russia during the campaign.

Trump said that Obama refused to act because he thought Hillary Clinton would win — an implicit acknowledgement not only that Russia intervened but that Russia’s purpose was to help him win the election.

If it was truly unclear who was responsible, Obama’s alleged hesitancy to act would have been appropriate.

“He was told in early August by presumably the CIA that Russia was trying to get involved or meddling pretty strongly with the election,” Trump said of Obama. “He did nothing about it. The reason is he thought Hillary was going to win and if he thought I was going to win he would have done plenty about it.”

Trump dismissed the assessment from the U.S. intelligence community, saying he had done “heavy research” and found it was only the opinion of only “three or four” agencies. Those agencies were the FBI, CIA, and the NSA, along with the Director of National Intelligence. No intelligence agencies disagreed with the assessment — some simply weren’t involved.

James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 8 about the findings of the intelligence community:

The two dozen or so analysts for this task were hand-picked, seasoned experts from each of the contributing agencies. They were given complete, unfettered mutual access to all sensitive raw intelligence data, and importantly, complete independence to reach their findings. They found that the Russian government pursued a multifaceted influence campaign in the run-up to the election, including aggressive use of cyber capabilities.

Former FBI Director James Comey was definitive in his June 8 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee:

BURR: Do you have any doubt that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 elections?

COMEY: None.

BURR: Do you have any doubt that the Russian government was behind the intrusions in the DNC and the DCCC systems, and the subsequent leaks of that information?

COMEY: No, no doubt.

Former CIA Director John Brennan had a similar assessment on May 23 before the House Select Committee on Intelligence.

I think they’re all chronicled in the unclassified intelligence community assessment, in terms of — it’s very clear that the GRU was responsible for hacking into the — the networks of the DNC, DCCC, and were responsible, through a cutout, releasing it through places like Guccifer 2.0, WikiLeaks and — and others.

Notably, intelligence officials in Trump’s own administration share this assessment, including Mike Rogers, Trump’s NSA Director; Dan Coats, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence; and Mike Pompeo, Trump’s CIA Director.

Trump then turned his attention to the media, saying “many of your compatriots had to change their reporting and apologize and they had to correct” their reporting on Russian interference. (Trump is referring to this technical correction by the AP, regarding how many agencies were actively involved in the intelligence assessment, which doesn’t actually speak to the issue of Russian involvement.)

Trump then used that as a jumping off point for casting more doubt on Russian interference. “Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure,” Trump said.
Polish officials then cut off NBC Reporter Hallie Jackson’s microphone before she could ask a follow up question.

Trump’s response — while internally incoherent — will likely please Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has denied involvement in election-related hacking.

Trump is not expected to raise the issue in his first meeting with Putin as president, scheduled for Friday.

[karl]

Perhaps as not exactly, or correctly understanding President Trump with his what appears to be playing up to the Polish public and representatives of the Polish Goverment. In my mind perhaps Mr. Trump is playing both sides against the middle between Russia and Poland for being he was in Poland at time of these speeches.

Now to then remember his words to the Polish people, what then will be his cards in Germany be? In the presence of Mr. Putin, what then will be his words?

Mr. Trump is stepping upon a very slippery slope and if he slips and falls, will be there any person to catch him?

Karl

[Jaga]

I think that everybody got something from this visit. Poland was appreciated, Trump was happy, Melinda felt at home (president's first lady greeted her before her husband, some mass media took in a wrong way). Even Lech Walesa was able to participate in the event, although he sat with opposition. This is a real win for Walesa after the bumpy ride and a scare when the current government with Kaczynski almost wanted to persecute him.