“With the instruments available to the president under the Polish constitutional system, policy is developed in a very efficient and appropriate way. Strengthening the alliance with the USA and fostering regional cooperation, overlooked by Tusk’s government, is a major achievement of Karol Nawrocki during his first hundred days,” Prof. Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski, a political scientist and expert in international affairs, tells Niezależna.pl.
11 foreign visits, including two to the United States. The first: less than a month after the inauguration – this sums up Karol Nawrocki’s international activity in his first hundred days in office. During the mentioned visit to Washington, the Polish leader received assurances from U.S. President Donald Trump that American troops would not be withdrawn from Poland. Moreover, Trump did not rule out the possibility of increasing their numbers. Strengthening the strategic partnership with Washington, including on security matters, is a major, though not the only, success in the international policy of President Karol Nawrocki and his cabinet. This is what Niezalezna.pl discusses with Prof. Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski, a political scientist and expert in international affairs.
“After a hundred days, Karol Nawrocki’s presidency shows both elements of continuity and change compared to Andrzej Duda’s presidency. The element of continuity is, of course, maintaining a strong alliance with the USA as the main guarantor of security in the region. To the extent allowed by the constitutional powers of the head of state in the Polish system, this has been very well executed by President Nawrocki,” the expert emphasizes in an interview with Niezależna.pl.
“Strengthening the alliance with the USA is a major achievement of Karol Nawrocki. The policy of regional cooperation, overlooked by Tusk’s government, has also been activated and maintained. Examples include consultations with the leaders of the Baltic states and the Danish prime minister, as well as online discussions with the president of Ukraine. Connecting Kyiv with the rest of the countries is essential to counter neo-imperial Russia,” he adds.
“The first visit to Slovakia, announcements of a series of visits within the Visegrád Group and the Three Seas Initiative, meetings with the leaders of Germany and France, and the opening of the Via Baltica section in Lithuania – these underline the continuity of Polish policy within the Three Seas Initiative,” the expert complements.
“With the instruments available to the president under the Polish constitutional system, policy is developed in a very efficient and appropriate way,” emphasizes Prof. Żurawski vel Grajewski.
“The president is indeed capable of creating an atmosphere in international relations. Translating it later into material outcomes carries, as with any real policy, budgetary consequences, and the budget is in the hands of the government and the parliamentary majority,” our interlocutor reminds us.
“The president can open certain opportunities, but the government must take advantage of them. However, everything points toward squandering this potential,” he adds.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, did not even mention the Three Seas during a single second of his exposé, and this year he also said nothing about the Bucharest Nine. What President Nawrocki is doing now regarding regional cooperation is maintaining the line of the United Right government and his predecessor, Andrzej Duda,” he points out.
“The president can bring various issues into the public sphere and subject them to public debate, both nationally and internationally. In this context, the declarations of the Slovak president regarding the construction of the Slovak section of Via Carpatia are very valuable. The road, running from Thessaloniki in Greece to Klaipėda in Lithuania, along NATO’s eastern flank, breaking through the Carpathian barrier, has both economic and military significance. And the Slovaks were very delayed in implementing their part of the project,” Prof. Żurawski vel Grajewski says.
“Similarly, the importance of gas interconnectors linking the gas transmission infrastructure between Poland and Slovakia, and the idea of Poland as a hub for American gas – attracting major energy businesses to invest in our region – is crucial. With the help of the Three Seas and partner countries, namely Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans, this creates a 180-million-consumer market for American gas. This attracts local business, along with American military protection. This is developing in a very positive direction, but the actions must now be taken by the government – translated from declaratory language into budgetary decisions. And that, as we know, is no longer the president’s responsibility,” he concludes.