US ambassador refuses to say how Polish speaker insulted Trump

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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.

The US ambassador to Poland has given his first interview since sparking a diplomatic row by cutting ties with the speaker of the Polish parliament over his “outrageous insults” against President Donald Trump.

However, when asked in the interview to specify what these insults were, the ambassador, Thomas Rose, refused to say. He also sought to emphasise that the US remains “Poland’s best ally and greatest friend”.

Rose’s decision last week to cut all contact with Włodzimierz Czarzasty, the speaker of the Sejm, the more powerful lower house of parliament, followed Czarzasty’s refusal to support Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

In a speech announcing that decision, Czarzasty had accused Trump of “destabilising” international organisations and of “often violating international law”.

He also criticised Trump’s recent suggestion that NATO allies had not provided the United States with frontline support, which caused anger in Poland, where many soldiers died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In response, Rose accused Czarzasty of making “outrageous and unprovoked insults directed against President Trump” and said that the US would “have no further dealings, contacts, or communications” with him.

On Tuesday, Rzeczpospolita, a leading Polish daily, published extracts from an interview with Rose, the full version of which will be released on Wednesday.

When it was put to him that Czarzasty had simply said that Trump did not the deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, Rose responded: “That’s not all he said. Everyone can reread it. I don’t need to repeat it. I’ve said enough about it. I’ve made my point. We will not accept or tolerate outrageous insults against our president!”

Pushed to specify which part of Czarzasty’s remarks he considered to be a personal attack on Trump, Rose refused, saying: “You can ask me the same question 25 times and you’ll get the same answer.”

“Every Pole, of course, has the right to share their opinions. But we also have the right to respond to those opinions,” he added.

When pressed on why he cut ties with Czarzasty while the US maintains relations with other controversial figures, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rose said: “I don’t need to explain it!”

The ambassador was also asked about a recent poll showing that over half of Poles no longer see US as a reliable ally. Rose described the results as “regrettable, more so for Poland than for America”.

“I’m convinced that most Poles…know that we are Poland’s best ally, Poland’s greatest friend,” he added. “Therefore, I’m not overly concerned by the results of this poll, because ultimately, we remain partners and allies.”

Although Prime Minister Donald Tusk immediately jumped to the defence of Czarzasty, who is part of his ruling coalition, following Rose’s remarks, the foreign ministry has so far avoided taking a position on the dispute.

Speaking to the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily on Monday, ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór said that they would not be summoning the ambassador for talks but that foreign minister Radosław Sikorski would “meet with Thomas Rose sooner or later”.

Meanwhile, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who serves as deputy prime minister and defence minister, announced that he would today be meeting with Rose for talks on “many substantive issues”.

He insisted that “the United States is a very serious partner, and we will always sincerely respect each other”, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Meanwhile, one figure from within Tusk’s ruling coalition even voiced criticism of Czarzasty this week. Marek Sawicki told broadcaster RMF that Czarzasty should have consulted the foreign ministry before making his comments about Trump and in general should “think three times before he says something”.

Sawicki is a senior figure in the centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL), which has often had an uneasy relationship with Czarzasty’s party, The Left (Lewica), despite both being members of the ruling coalition.

By contrast, Sławomir Mentzen, one of the leaders of far-right opposition party Confederation (Konfederacja), came to Czarzasty’s defence.

“No Americans will tell us who should be the speaker of the Polish Sejm,” Mentzen told Radio Zet. He called on the foreign ministry to summon Rose and warn him against “interfering in our internal affairs”.

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: White House (under public domain)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.