The leader of the Polish opposition has called on the centre-left government to provide the $1 billion (€840 million) required for Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki to become a full member of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the opposition Conservatives (PiS) chief, wants the Prime Minister Donald Tusk-led administration to provide the fees to let Nawrocki join the US designed body to preside over the rebuilding of the Gaza strip.
Trump has invited the PiS-aligned Nawrocki to participate in the Board of Peace but this will not be possible without the Tusk government’s consent. Poland’s head of state attended the inaugural meeting of the Board in Davos a few days ago but did not sign the founding documents.
Kaczyński said on January 23 that the Polish Government should agree to his country joining the Trump Gaza initiative.
“The government has to find the billion dollars so that Poland is a full member,” the PiS chief said.
“We are no longer a poor country.”
He added that Poland needs to maintain its strong relations with the US. “We have to be active to maintain good relations with the US and that is all the more reason why we should be inside the Board of Peace.”
Asked if the addition of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the board was a problem, Kaczyński replied: “Putin will not be present physically anyway.”
Tusk took to X to criticise both Kaczyński and Nawrocki over their pro-US stance, saying: “It’s time to get off your knees. People are watching.”
Tusk’s post was also referring to Trump’s remarks about what he called the lack of engagement from NATO countries in Afghanistan. Nawrocki has indirectly criticised those comments by paying homage to “Polish fallen heroes in Afghanistan”, thanking them for their bravery and engagement in the NATO mission.
The Polish President answered Tusk’s post by stating: “You must be joking PM. You have been kneeling in Brussels and Berlin for the last two decades.”
Nawrocki is one of 60 world leaders who was invited by Trump to join the Board of Peace. The Polish head of state said he would like to do so but for that to be possible there would have to be agreement with the Polish parliament and government. He said therefore he could not be a signatory to the formation of Trump’s body at the present time.
Some media outlets in Poland have claimed Nawrocki has considered attempting to leverage a permanent US military base in Poland in return for Polish support and funding for the Board of Peace.
At present, the US has some 10,000 troops on a rotational basis in Poland but there has been no confirmation from Nawrocki that this was or is to be the case.
The Tusk government, though, which has a majority in parliament and which would have to agree to any Polish participation in the Board of Peace, remains sceptical, along with some other European governments.
Nawrocki has established good relations with Trump, even though the Polish head of state has told the US President that Putin cannot be trusted with regard to negotiating a peace in Ukraine.
Tusk, on the other hand, is effectively persona non grata in Washington because of his intemperate remarks in which, when leading the opposition, he claimed that Trump was a Russian asset.
