Radosław Sikorski used the overthrow of the dictatorship in Venezuela for an absurd political attack on the opposition. Instead of defending Poland’s interests and the principles of international law, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs struck at those who for years have raised the issue of sovereignty within the European Union.
Defending the sovereignty of a dictatorship?
After the detention of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by the United States in a military operation, global public attention focused on that region of the world. In this context, Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski spoke out, launching an absurd attack on opposition politicians, writing on X:
“Another day goes by and our sovereignty advocates are not defending Venezuela’s sovereignty. Does it apply only to the European Union, which does not threaten it?”
The minister’s statement is not an attempt at a cool-headed analysis of the U.S. military operation, but a blind political attack. Sikorski suggests hypocrisy on the part of right-wing circles that criticize the expansion of the European Union’s competencies while remaining silent on Venezuela. The problem is that this comparison is entirely absurd. The European Union is a treaty-based structure that Poland joined voluntarily, and disputes over the scope of its powers are part of a legitimate constitutional debate. Venezuela, by contrast, had for years remained a state ruled by the brutal regime of Nicolás Maduro, responsible for human rights violations, repression of the opposition, and a humanitarian catastrophe.
Moreover, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not ask about Poland’s interests, regional security, or global consequences. Instead, he uses the dramatic situation in South America as a pretext for an internal political war.