Polish president seeks poll boost with Trump meet

Bloomberg

Polish President Andrzej Duda is hoping to boost his re-election bid by meeting Donald Trump in Washington next week, just four days before the east European nation’s ballot.
Duda has long played up what he calls his “special relationship” with Trump, who gave a major foreign-policy speech in Warsaw in 2017. Additional security guarantees from the US at the June 24 meeting would be a welcome boost to his re-election bid, which has faltered in past weeks amid sleaze scandals. His campaign said the invitation showed that Poland’s
relations with the US were “stronger than ever.”
Trump’s relationship with Polish leaders has been a rare exception as transatlantic ties become increasingly strained. The US President announced that he would withdraw some troops from Germany — Poland’s neighbor — raising concerns over the longevity of American military muscle in Europe.
“The two leaders will discuss further advancing our defense cooperation, as well as trade, energy and telecommunications security,” said Georgette Mosbacher, the US Ambassador to Poland. Duda will be the first foreign head of state to visit the White House since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
Over the past five years, Duda and his nationalist allies steering the government waged numerous battles with the European Union over the erosion of democratic standards. The EU conflicts make relations with Washington even more important, especially as the former communist nation overwhelmingly sees American troops as the best deterrent against historic foe Russia.
The government in Warsaw has lobbied for a permanent US base on its soil, with Duda suggesting to name it “Fort Trump.” President Trump
last year agreed to deploy 1,000 more troops to Poland after his administration pledged an “enduring” presence in the nation.
Poland’s opposition said it was “dangerous” and inappropriate for Duda to negotiate defense deals with the U.S. on the eve of the election. His main rival, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, is an “ardent supporter” of more US troops on Polish soil but wants NATO to play a central role in the country’s security agreements.
“Today, we have conflicts between the US and Germany, between the US and the EU — and we don’t want to be at
the centre” of those disagreements, Trzaskowski’s campaign manager Cezary Tomczyk told TOK FM radio.
“We want to benefit from our relations with the US
and from our membership in the EU.”