It is an open secret that Radosław Sikorski’s greatest dream is to become the Polish president […] He cannot come to terms with the fact that it is Karol Nawrocki who holds this office – said MEP Adam Bielan, commenting on the recent behavior of the foreign minister. Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz, in turn, stated that the Civic Platform politician “has lost the mandate to cooperate with the president in the field of foreign policy.”
On September 3, the presidents of the USA and Poland met in the White House. Karol Nawrocki’s visit turned out to be quite a success, noticed not only by Polish but also foreign media. Representatives of the Polish government, however, speak about it in a somewhat different tone. In particular Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski, who yesterday published a recording from Washington, perceived as yet another attempt to undermine the president’s meeting.
The foreign minister’s behavior was discussed on Tomasz Sakiewicz’s program Polityczna Kawa on TV Republika. Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz gave a clearly critical assessment.
“First of all, words fail to describe what Minister Radosław Sikorski is doing, what he continues to do, Minister Radosław Sikorski, the deputy prime minister of the Polish government in the United States. Without a doubt, he harms Poland, he harms Poland’s interests, this is against the Polish raison d’état. Such behavior – trying to diminish the rank of President Karol Nawrocki’s visit to the United States, clownish antics, posts on social media, selfies in front of the White House – the only thing missing is a selfie in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York, because in fact the deputy prime minister has already managed to take several pictures in front of nearly every important American government building or monument,” he said.
“He tries to pass himself off as a serious diplomat”
He recalled that these actions began as soon as news broke about Nawrocki’s meeting with Trump. – The Polish government, and especially Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski and his associates, tried to diminish the rank of the visit that was to take place. Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski said that we probably wouldn’t accomplish many of the matters we wanted to, that essentially the visit made no sense, that the president’s entourage consisted only of amateurs. Later, of course, various so-called experts echoed him, appearing in different media and claiming the visit would be pointless anyway, since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ) wouldn’t be allowed to participate. Then came a one-page memo with five paragraphs, outlining what the president should say and what he should not […] And then the mocking behavior of Deputy Prime Minister Sikorski, who at this point seems to be conducting foreign policy in shorts – Leśkiewicz listed.
In his view, Sikorski “tries to present himself as a serious diplomat, a man familiar with the rules of diplomacy, who regularly attends salons around the world and has excellent contacts.” – But when it comes to concrete matters, it turns out he can’t swallow the fact that the Polish president managed to accomplish a great deal for Poland. Not for President Karol Nawrocki personally – for Poland, he added. “Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Radosław Sikorski should probably end his political career, because he has worn himself out as a politician, without a doubt. He cannot control his emotions, cannot control his nerves, cannot step outside of his comfort zone and his desire to engage in political struggle with the president. He cannot understand what the Polish raison d’état is and has proven that many times,” he said.
In his opinion, Sikorski has lost the mandate “to cooperate with the president in the field of foreign policy.”
Unfulfilled dreams
Also present in the TV Republika studio, MEP Adam Bielan stated that it is an open secret that Sikorski’s greatest dream is to be the Polish president. – Equally important, I think, is that his wife’s dream is to be the Polish First Lady – he added, recalling that the Civic Platform politician twice failed to fulfill those dreams, as “he was rejected by his own party.”
“And that leaves him with a lot of bile, a lot of bitterness. He barely manages to hide it. I have already spoken many times about various unpleasant situations I witnessed toward the late President Lech Kaczyński – offensive ones – coming from Radosław Sikorski, who was already foreign minister back then. This is a man who, on the one hand, seems intelligent – certainly knowledgeable about the mechanisms of American and global politics. On the other hand, he very often behaves in an astonishingly infantile way and makes fatal mistakes that discredit not only himself, but also the state he represents,” he said, adding that the deputy prime minister cannot come to terms with the fact that it is Karol Nawrocki who is president, and not him.