Polish president to meet Macron, Scholz and Sunak in “diplomatic offensive” ahead of Biden visit

Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has launched what he describes as a “diplomatic offensive”, during which he will meet European and NATO leaders in an effort to drum up support for Ukraine ahead of Joe Biden’s visit to Poland later this month to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

After a conversation tomorrow with the presidents of neighbouring Slovakia and Lithuania – Zuzana Čaputová and Gitanas Nausėda – Duda will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, followed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles, he announced his a speech this afternoon.

He will then hold talks at the Munich Security Conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the president-elect of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

That will be followed by Biden’s visit to Poland from 20 to 22 February, during which Warsaw will also host a summit of the so-called Bucharest Nine, comprised of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The US president will also attend the event.

The aim of these “very active two weeks” will be to not only “strengthen Poland’s security” but also to “adopt new provisions that will allow us to support Ukraine in an even better and more efficient way in defending its territory, in repelling the Russian attack, jointly within the framework of allied agreements”, said Duda.

This will involve “above all strengthening the security of NATO’s eastern flank” by “persuading our allies to send larger military forces here, which will be stationed in our part of Europe”. Such forces would act as a “deterrent against the further expansion of Russian imperialism”.

These efforts are being coordinated in particular with Slovakia – which currently holds the presidency of the Bucharest Nine – and Lithuania, which will be hosting NATO’s annual summit in July, added the Polish president.

The plans have also been discussed with Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with Duda for two hours in Rzeszów last week as he returned to Ukraine following a visit to London and Brussels.

Since Russia’s invasion, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s leading international allies, providing military, diplomatic and humanitarian support as well as hosting the largest number of Ukrainian refugees.

Duda and the Polish government have during that period often clashed with France and, in particular, Germany over what Warsaw sees as their reluctance to more stnrogly support Ukraine and condemn Russia.

Last June, Duda condemned Macron and Scholz for holding telephone calls with Vladimir Putin during Russia’s war in Ukraine, likening it to speaking with Adolf Hitler. He also accused Germany of reneging on a promise to send Poland tanks to replace those Warsaw has donated to Ukraine.

More recently, the Polish and German governments have clashed over Poland’s proposals to send Patriot missile batteries and Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Main image credit: Jakub Szymczyk/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.