Polish president warns US conservatives of Russia threat in CPAC speech

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has warned American conservatives that the West must stand up to the threat of Russia during a speech in Texas at CPAC, a major annual conference organised by the American Conservative Union.

In his address, Nawrocki, a close ally of Donald Trump, praised the US president as a “true friend of Poland” and echoed Trump’s demands for Europe to do more to support its own defence. He also called for major reform of the European Union, but stressed that he wants Poland to remain in the bloc.

“In Europe today, we face an aggressive Russia, a regime that invades its neighbours, that destroys cities, that believes power gives it the right to dominate others,” declared the Polish president, who delivered his speech in English. “That same regime tries to tell the world, ‘we are the defenders of traditional values’.”

“This is a lie,” continued Nawrocki. “Russia does not defend conservatism. Russia represents corruption and violence. True conservatism respects nations. True conservatism respects human dignity. True conservatism believes in freedom under law.”

“In the face of these threats, we have a choice: to stand divided or to stand together. We stand with the United States, just like we always have,” he added, pointing to times throughout history, from the American War of Independence onwards, when Poles and Americans have fought together.

Nawrocki also recalled the 66 Polish soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting US-led wars there earlier this century. Earlier this year, Trump caused anger in Poland when he said that NATO allies had “stayed back off the front lines” in those conflicts.

Nawrocki also expressed support for Trump’s calls for European countries to spend more on their own security.

“In Poland, we understand this,” said Nawrocki, pointing to the fact that his country now spends almost 5% of GDP on defence, the highest relative level in NATO. He also noted that Poland hosts US troops at the cost of Polish taxpayers.

“That is why we stand as the eastern guard of Europe, of Western civilisation, which we defend against tyranny, lies, and violence from the east, from Russia, though not only from there,” he declared.

Nawrocki also used his speech to call more broadly for “urgent repair” of the European Union – though he made clear that he believes “Poland made the right decision in joining” it and said that “we [still] want to be part” of it.

He said that Brussels “risks weakening the very foundations of our strength” through “energy policies that move too fast”, “migration policies that fail to protect borders and social cohesion”, and “ideological projects that move us away from the values that built our Christian civilisation.”

Those remarks echo a major speech by Nawrocki last year calling for EU reform. Poland’s more liberal, pro-EU government, which regularly clashes with the opposition-aligned president, has accused Nawrocki of in effect pushing Poland towards “Polexit” from the EU.

Nawrocki’s speech was peppered with praise for Trump. “We need leaders like him. Leaders who put the people first, protect their jobs, defend families, and secure the future,” said the Polish president.

The Polish government has taken a less friendly approach towards Trump, and in some cases has directly criticised his actions. Meanwhile, a poll conducted in January this year found that a majority of Poles, 53.2%, believe the US is no longer a reliable ally, while only 29.9% believe that it is.

Another survey, published last month, showed that Trump is the third-most distrusted major world leader among Poles, behind only Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko.

Daniel Tilles

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.