He was asked about his friendship with Donald Trump, particularly in the light of the US president’s threats to take over “by any means” the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland, something which has rattled Europe and which threatens to rupture the 77-year old Nato alliance.
The US, he insisted, despite recent statements by US officials to the contrary, was still the guarantor of security in Europe. What Donald Trump was doing on behalf of the Europeans, he said, “deserved support and great respect”. President Nawrocki said he could see Europe “detaching” itself from the United States and said this was good neither for the economic security nor the military security of the European Union.
That still left the awkward question of Greenland. This discussion, he said, should remain a matter between the Danish prime minister and President Trump. Karol Nawrocki was convinced that this question would be resolved through Nato and through dialogue between Denmark and the US.
But President Nawrocki also used this interview to criticise European leaders for, as he put it, being “involved in not so important things, in ideological issues such as green deal for instance, climate policy, migration issues”. Europe, he said, was not building its resilience and security over the years, whereas Poland was now allocating close to 5% of its GDP to defence.
For Britain, though, he had some warm words. Relations between Poland and the UK were “extremely important” and today around one million Poles lived in the UK.
“I would like to express my very deep appreciation for the British soldiers who are stationed in Poland… taking responsibility for Nato’s Eastern flank,” he said. He expressed his hope that, with Poland’s economy growing rapidly, Britain as host of next year’s G20 summit would invite Poland to participate.