US “happy” that incoming Polish government will improve relations with EU, says ambassador

Washington is “pleased” that Poland’s likely new government will be able to improve the country’s relations with the EU, says the US ambassador to Warsaw. He added that he expects Polish-American cooperation, already very strong, to now “get even better”.

Mark Brzezinski, who has been America’s envoy to Warsaw since last year, spoke with broadcaster RMF about the outcome of last month’s elections, which saw Law and Justice (PiS) – Poland’s ruling party since 2015 – lose its parliamentary majority.

A coalition of three opposition groups – led by former European Council President Donald Tusk – is now likely to take power within the coming weeks. Among their main goals is to improve relations with the European Union, which have often been strained under PiS.

“We are very pleased about this warming with Brussels,” said Brzezinski. “We really want Poland to have normal and intensive relations with Brussels.”

Bardzo się na to ocieplenie relacji z Brukselą cieszymy. Powołanie @donaldtusk na premiera daje strategiczną możliwość znormalizowania i wzmocnienia stosunków z Brukselą. Stosunki Polski z Brukselą znormalizują się od razu. Stosunki Polski z Berlinem poprawią się od razu -… pic.twitter.com/PVSn4iAoHw

— RozmowaRMF (@Rozmowa_RMF) November 16, 2023

“[Currently] they are not strong. They are weak. They are not normal,” he added. “The appointment of Donald Tusk as prime minister provides a strategic opportunity to normalise and strengthen relations with Brussels.”

The US ambassador said that Poland’s improved relations with the EU, as well as with Germany, would also help strengthen its relations with Ukraine.

“This is something that our administration – Joe Biden – is very happy about,” said Brzezinski. “We believe this will be an added value in this difficult time.”

The opposition groups likely to form the next government have signed a coalition agreement

They pledged to:
– restore rule of law
– annul the near-total abortion ban
– depoliticise public media
– prosecute anti-LGBT hate speech
– separate church and state https://t.co/lwQvGGok8s

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 10, 2023

Regarding US-Polish relations, the ambassador noted that “we already work very well together and I expect it will get even better…America cooperates with any government that Poles choose. I have established good relations with the current government and I will also have them with the new one”.

Poland has enjoyed close relations with the US under PiS, under both Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. Last year, Biden announced the establishment of the first ever permanent US military base in Poland. Warsaw has also signed deals to procure billions of dollars worth of military hardware from the US.

The US is a major partner in supporting the PiS government’s plans to build Poland’s first nuclear power plants. Brzezinski expressed hope that this would continue under the new government.

“Our interests overlap. Our countries have never done so much together as in 2023,” he told RMF. “We have thousands of American soldiers in Poland. Poles take great care of refugees from Ukraine. Our business relationship is fantastic.”

The prime minister says he „has received signals from the American side” that the opposition „may weaken Polish-US cooperation”.

He claims that, if Donald Tusk comes to power at this Sunday’s elections, he would make Poland dependent on Germany https://t.co/Pg0KdA8HjD

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 12, 2023

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Main image credit: Donald Tusk/Twitter

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.