“Iran is a regime that supports the Russian Federation. From a geopolitical standpoint, we must therefore look at what happened on February 28, that, as a result of the United States’ actions and President Donald Trump’s decision, an ally of the Russian Federation, which poses a real threat to Poland, is being weakened,” said President Karol Nawrocki when asked about the operation against Tehran. During the European Congress of Local Governments, he also called on the Polish government to take concrete action regarding Poles stranded in the Middle East.
The president stated that he believes the United States will succeed in resolving the current situation in the Middle East. As he explained, he views the matter from three perspectives.
“On the one hand, from a geopolitical perspective, we must be aware that, geopolitically speaking, Iran has been and remains a state that threatens a certain order of values shared by the United States, Europe, and Poland. Iran is a regime that has persecuted Christians, which is important to me as the President of Poland. It is also a regime that supports the Russian Federation. From a geopolitical standpoint, we must therefore look at what happened on February 28, that, through the actions of the United States and the decision of President Donald Trump, an ally of the Russian Federation, which is a real threat to Poland, is being weakened,”
he said.
From a military perspective, according to the president, the operation against Iran clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the American armed forces.
“[…] a very precise operation which, in a short period of time, once again over the course of several months, shows that we are dealing with a genuine superpower, not merely a declarative one. And that superpower is our most important ally, and we are that superpower’s most important ally in Central Europe,”
he stated.
As he added, the third point of view is Poland’s perspective, which is the most important to him.
“We are monitoring and analyzing, and we must monitor how this will affect the situation in our region. I am referring here to the Russian Federation or Belarus. We are doing this together with the leaders of the Baltic states and Central Europe, and I am also doing so personally in contact with the Secretary General,”
he said.
Appeal to the government
The president also called on the government to “get to work in helping Polish tourists and [Polish] residents of the Persian Gulf.”
“I recall that in 2023, during what was happening in Israel, the Polish state fulfilled its obligations toward Poles. Even today, since this morning, a wave of confusion and frustration from Poles staying in the Persian Gulf region, in the United Arab Emirates, has been flooding, among others, the Chancellery of the President,”
he said.
When it was pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that, due to security concerns, it is not sending evacuation planes, he responded:
“I believe that this is precisely why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs exists: to demonstrate its effectiveness now. The foreign minister, as well as the ministry’s spokesperson, handles disputes with the Polish president and “X-politics” perfectly well, but today is the moment to put that to the test. So, it’s time to get to work. We certainly should not leave Poles in the Persian Gulf region. I am making efforts in this direction, and I demand the same from the government.”