No Breakthrough

The Warsaw Voice ^ | 18 August 2004

[lizol]

No Breakthrough By M.M. 18 August 2004

"This is the moment when Poland progresses from a consumer of U.S. policy to a real partner," said Prime Minister Marek Belka, after conducting a series of talks in the United States in early August. However, most commentators agree that the visit produced no real breakthrough.

During his working visit to the United States, which ended Aug. 9, Belka met with officials including U.S. President George W. Bush (see photo) and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He discussed issues including a reduction of Polish troop presence in Iraq and a gradual reorganization of the mission. The officials also discussed a procedure for a preliminary clearance of Poles traveling to America at Polish airports.

Directly after his meeting with Bush, Belka said that Poland remained firmly committed to its strategic goal-to bring about the abolition of U.S. visas for Poles. "Today we scored a minor success," he said. "I don't mean to overestimate its importance, but we finally agreed on the conditions for clearance at [Polish] airports, which will practically eliminate the danger that our citizens may be turned away from U.S. airports."

After a visit to the Pentagon, Belka said that he talked with Rumsfeld about the need to reduce the Polish contingent in Iraq and about balancing the Polish mission in this country. "This primarily involves making sure that Polish specialists are sent to Iraq along with Polish soldiers," Belka said. He also talked with Rumsfeld about an offset agreement tied to the purchase of F-16 jets by the Polish air force. Belka discussed the same subject with executives from the Lockheed Martin corporation, from which Poland is buying the jets. Even though Belka admitted that there were "certain differences of opinion" involving loans for some projects, there was no major threat to the implementation of the offset program.

Press commentaries indicate that the results of Belka's talks in the United States mark no breakthrough, yet it was difficult to expect that the short working visit would be a major success. The main purpose of the visit was to present the Polish point of view on select issues and encourage the U.S. administration to take this perspective into account when making decisions on issues of key importance to Poland. From this point of view, it was already a success that President Bush found the time to meet Belka despite his busy schedule connected with the election campaign.

Polish-American talks are expected to continue in September when Warsaw hosts Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. The talks will revolve around the cooperation of both countries in the context of trans-Atlantic relations. Other topics will be Bush's policy on the Middle East and Iraq as well as policy vis-a-vis Russia and Ukraine.

Grzegorz Kostrzewa-Zorbas, a commentator on American issues, said after Belka's visit that Poland would have a better chance of settling the visa problem by making it a European policy issue. "I think the opinion dominates in Washington that Poland is a small and unimportant country, and this thinking prevents policy modifications," he said, adding that perhaps Poles should take their minds off America "now that we have other political spaces to fill, with new and much greater chances in Europe."