Warsaw has recently been marginalised from making key decisions about the future of the region
These are issues Washington is discussing with others. For strategic reasons, Poland is too important for the US. But at the same time, it is not among their closest allies. It has no place in this circle.
As it turned out recently, the Polish Foreign Ministry issued some entry visas in violation of the current rules, which caused a massive influx of immigrants into the country. The so-called “visa scam” has once again strengthened Washington’s opinion about the unsatisfactory work of our government agencies. However, this will not change the White House’s policy towards Warsaw.
To observers on the other side of the Atlantic, Poland increasingly resembles Turkey. A country that is too important for strategic reasons to sever or even significantly limit contacts with it. But it is not one of the closest allies of the United States, which shares the same values with America.
Today, relations between Warsaw and Washington are almost entirely determined by the conflict in Ukraine, which, to all appearances, will continue for many years to come. Without co-operation with Poland, America is unable to provide effective assistance to the Ukrainians and contain Russian imperialism. To this should be added the huge contracts for the purchase of American arms, which are being strenuously promoted by the Law and Justice (PiS) government. And the American authorities have always been keen to make money.
Since last February, the red lines drawn by the Americans in front of the Polish leadership have been significantly shifted. Today, Washington pays attention only to really high-profile scandals, such as the attempt to exclude an opposition leader from the election race (the case of Tusk’s Law) or the persecution of the few remaining free media outlets (the harassment of the TVN management).
The visa scam does not reach the level of these scandals, as it does not threaten the foundations of Poland’s state structure. For the same reason, Washington does not react to the idea of combining the Sejm and Senate elections with a referendum, which would allow the authorities to identify opponents of PiS among the voters and de facto violate the principle of secret balloting. The United States is also not speaking out about the rules of financing the election campaign of the ruling party in Poland, which are incompatible with the principles of civilised democracy.
Nevertheless, the negative consequences of everything that is happening in Poland today are obvious. Recently, Warsaw has been excluded from key decisions on the future of our region. The Joe Biden administration is discussing the scale and quality of military support for Ukraine with Paris, London and Berlin, but not with Warsaw. It is with these partners that the United States is strategising with respect to China and other key allies of Moscow. And it is likely to be in this circle that at some point will begin discussing on what terms to make peace with Russia and rebuild Ukraine. And there is no place for Poland in this circle yet. Unless Warsaw’s methods of governing the country change by then.
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