Former US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher has criticised the European Union for its “absurd” criticism of the rule of law in Poland, where “democracy works impeccably”. Brussels has been misled by “a wave of fake news and propaganda from Russia”, she says.
Mosbacher, a Republican fundraiser appointed by Donald Trump as ambassador in 2018 and who left ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration last year, also praised Poland for its response to the war in Ukraine and its foresight in warning of the dangers of Russia long before the invasion.
Georgette Mosbacher w tygodniku „Sieci”: Nie wierzcie w kłamstwa o Polsce! Polacy mieli rację, a dziś zasługują na Noblahttps://t.co/tnChFpPA9g
— Tygodnik Sieci (@Tygodnik_Sieci) June 19, 2022
“The discussion that is taking place in the EU regarding Poland and the rule of law is unfair,” Mosbacher told Sieci, a news weekly linked to the ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. “The EU has been a victim of disinformation, a wave of fake news and propaganda from Russia.”
“We hear all the time that Poland has problems with the rule of law, reforms of the judicial system and even – when it comes to democracy – is going back to a time long gone,” she continued. “These are absurd and it is a pity that the EU widely believes these lies.”
“All elections that have taken place in Poland have been fair and free. No one questioned their results,” Mosbacher continued. “Democracy works as it should, impeccably. I suspect that this constant picking on Poland results from a lack of understanding of this country.”
The PiS government has, since coming to power in 2015, been in regular conflict with Brussels over the rule of law. The European Commission has launched a number of proceedings against Warsaw, while various European court rulings have found Poland to have violated national and European law.
PiS denies that its reforms threaten the rule of law, and argues that they are designed to improve the functioning and accountability of the judiciary. It claims that the EU is victimising Poland for political and ideological reasons.
During Trump’s presidency, PiS enjoyed close relations with his administration. In 2020, when PiS-backed President Andrzej Duda was standing for reelection, he was invited to the White House days before the vote, where Trump declared him a “friend” who was “doing an incredible job”.
In her interview with Sieci, Mosbacher also noted that “for years Poles have been trying to tell the world what Russia really is. But no one wanted to listen…Polish politicians sounded the alarm, but it was ignored.”
That included repeated warnings about the dangers of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was intended to bring Russian gas to Germany, she noted.
“The situation today is largely the fault of the Germans,” Mosbacher continued. “They wanted to make Europe dependent on cheap Russian gas and on Nord Stream 2. They closed their eyes. They were building a joint gas pipeline with a politician annexing Crimea and Donbass.”
“Today you can see how wrong the EU was about Russia,” concluded Mosbacher. “The war unleashed by Putin should open everyone’s eyes and make everyone realise how important energy independence is.”
Since leaving her position as ambassador, Mosbacher has been appointed to the board of a firm that will be the main advisor on the development of Poland’s first nuclear plant.
Speaking to Sieci, Mosbacher also praised Poland as the main gateway for delivering international aid to Ukraine. “Poland should be thanked for what it does and how it inspires others,” she declared. Her successor as ambassador, Biden appointee Mark Brzezinski, also recently described Poland as a “humanitarian superpower”.
Main image: Adam Guz / KPRM (under public domain)
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
