Eyes to the East
At the first meeting between US President George W Bush and President Kaczyński since the new Polish executive took office in December, little new was said on bilateral issues. Despite statements made by Kaczyński after arriving in the US last Wednesday, in which he told a Polish radio station that his administration was considering requiring US citizens coming to Poland to obtain visas if Poles weren't allowed visa-free travel within a few years, no discussions were held on the issue of adding Poland to the US' visa-waiver program.
The most notable parts of the meeting came in discussions of international issues - especially Eastern Europe. The two leaders discussed Poland's recent strained relations with Russia over such issues as energy security. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin made headlines with conciliatory remarks about Poles and Russians being members of "one family" and urging the two nations to look to issues of the present on which they can cooperate, rather than focusing on past squabbles.
During his meeting with Bush, Kaczyński welcomed the new rhetoric, and left the door open for a further warming of relations.
"There have been certain signals that might lead to an improvement of relations between the Republic of Poland and the Russian Federation," Kaczyński said. "We have no certainty yet, but .. we're hoping for an improvement in relations between Poland and Russia."
The presidents also discussed the issue of Ukraine, which Kaczyński hopes to bring into NATO by 2008.
"I asked the President his advice on Ukraine," Bush said. "Thats what friends do - they share information and share thoughts."
The issue of Belarus, where members of the Polish minority who oppose the Lukashenko regime have been jailed, also came up in the discussions, and president Kaczyński said that "the support of the United States for all actions that are leading to freedom in Ukraine and Belarus are very important for Poland."
Little was said on the issue of retaining Polish troops in Iraq after 2006. Earlier, Polish Defense Minister Radosław Sikorski had said that an extension of the Polish presence in Iraq to 2007 was possible, but would require an increase in military aid from the US. In President Bush's budget request last week, $30 (zł.96) million was set aside for Poland "to continue defense reform" - the same amount it received last year.
