Polish president says he “agrees with Trump” in first UN speech

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, has given his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly, declaring that he “agrees with Donald Trump” on the US president’s claims that Europe has “descended into an ideological frenzy” of allowing mass migration and “green madness”.

Nawrocki also used his address to condemn Russia’s “neo-imperialism”, call for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, reiterate his demand for World War Two reparations, declare “the right to life from conception to natural death”, and describe Christians as “one of the most persecuted groups in the world”.

The Polish president – who took office last month and is aligned with Poland’s national-conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party – devoted the majority of his speech to the situation across Poland’s eastern borders.

He warned that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not only the most serious conflict in Europe since World War Two, but also a turning point”, showing that “the existing international order is crumbling before our eyes”.

“We must view the current situation as a battleground for principles whose observance may determine the future of our civilisation,” warned Nawrocki.

“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not a purely regional conflict; it is a test of whether the principles upon which the UN is founded will stand the test of time, or whether they will crumble under the weight of the imperial and colonial ambitions of a state that considers itself above the law.”

Nawrocki noted that Poland, with its long history of conflict with and subjugation by Russia, well understands that “the root causes of Russian aggression are primarily ideological”.

Moscow holds an “imperial vision that treats entire nations as colonial possessions, systematically denies them agency, claiming they are artificial constructs, and justifies invasion as a ‘historical correction'”.

“We are once again beginning to experience Russian imperialism on our own soil, in Poland,” noted Nawrocki, pointing to this month’s Russian drone incursions. This “was, I assure you, no accident”, he added, pointing to subsequent similar violations of Estonian and Romanian airspace.

The Polish president also said that his own country’s “historical experience demonstrates that lasting peace cannot be built on rewarding aggression”, which is why it should be “our common duty” to hold Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine.

“States and nations deserve full reparations, including from those who caused World War Two,” declared Nawrocki, referring to his demands – recently made during a visit to Berlin – for Germany to pay Poland reparations for its brutal occupation of the country between 1939 and 1945.

“If we want to build a community of democratic states, a common European Union, we must collectively agree that war cannot be economically profitable for any aggressor,” said the Polish president.

Later in his speech, Nawrocki referred to the situation in the Middle East, declaring that, while “Israel, like any other state, has the right to self-defence…[its] actions must be consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law”.

Poland’s government has in recent months become increasingly vocal in its criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.

“Poland remains committed to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, ensuring both Palestinians and Israelis have the right to live in peace and security,” declared Nawrocki.

The Polish president – who is closely aligned with Trump and recently visited him in the White House – also said that he “agrees with President Donald Trump that in recent years Europe has descended into an ideological frenzy that has led to poor decisions regarding migration, to green madness”.

Trump had earlier used his own speech at the UN General Assembly to call on European countries to end the “failed experiment of open borders”. He also called climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and a “globalist concept asking successful, industrialised nations to inflict pain on themselves”.

Nawrocki has repeatedly condemned the European Union’s environmental policies and, during his election campaign, pledged to continue Poland’s reliance on coal. One of his first actions as president was to veto a government bill that would have eased rules on building wind turbines.

Nawrocki finished his address by outlining some of his core conservative principles, calling on world leaders to “firmly defend human rights in their most fundamental dimension – the right to life for the defenceless, from conception to natural death”.

He also said that “we, as Poland, speak up loudly about the fate of one of he most persecuted groups in the world, Christians”.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Mikołaj Bujak/KPRP

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.