Don't mention the visa war

The US President dropped in during Kaczyński's meeting with Vice-President Dick Cheney and assured the Polish Premier of special relations between the two countries.

"I heard a clear declaration: All is well between Poland and the US," the Prime Minister said. Kaczyński also met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the trip. The Prime Minister received  "political support" for new oil and gas supply routes from the Caspian Sea region to Europe.

Kaczyński also met the president of General Electric, and tried to convince him to build a planned factory in Poland. Defense Minister Radosław Sikorski, who accompanied Kaczyński during the visit, also announced that Poland would send an additional 900 Polish troops to Afghanistan to join the 100 soldiers already there.

There was no headway made on the issue of visas. Kaczyński told Cheney that this is the "only scar" on bilateral relations, but the Polish delegation decided not to waste time and energy on the issue. What was surprising was that the issue of the proposed missile-defense shield, which has been the talk of the town in both Warsaw and Washington, was not mentioned during the PM's meetings with the top US politicians.