Antoni Macierewicz, activities of the Smolensk subcommittee. Radosław Sikorski comments

The head of Polish diplomacy was asked who among the candidates – Donald Trump Whether Kamala Harris – he would be a better host of the White House from the Polish perspective. – I am very careful not to make the mistake of the previous government, which put all its chips on one side, on Donald Trump, and lost. And then he had, at least initially, a more difficult relationship with the administration Joe Biden – he replied Radosław Sikorski.

– We have good relations with the Joe Biden administration, and at the same time we are talking to the opposition, just like in normal democracies – he noted. He added that “regardless of the result, Poland is secured.”

Sikorski referred to the words of the head of the PiS parliamentary club Mariusz Błaszczakwho stated that if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election, the prime minister will be Donald Tusk he should resign. – This is absurd. I thought PiS was a sovereignist party. They are still defending us against the European Union, which does not threaten us, they are fighting for sovereignty, and in the meantime what? The government is to change in Poland not because there were elections or the coalition in the Sejm changed, but because some elections were decided one way or another in another country? – he said.

– I might as well call on President Duda [do dymisji – red.]because Maja Sandu won in Moldova – he added.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also talked about the activities of Antoni Macierewicz in the context of the assessment that the team appointed at the Ministry of National Defense gave to the Smolensk subcommittee, which was headed by Macierewicz for years.

– Every time Macierewicz is in power, he causes a scandal that harms Poland. This stupid dance must be stopped – he said.

– Someone who wasted such enormous resources, exposed the Smolensk families to such pain, who tried to blackmail experts to change their opinions – I hope that he will be held accountable for all this. Macierewicz really got it together, said Sikorski.

The TVN24 guest was also asked whether, in his opinion, Macierewicz should be deprived of the Order of the White Eagle, which he received from the president. Andrzej Duda.

Take away the Order of the White Eagle from Antoni Macierewicz? The president responds

To the argument that Macierewicz deserved credit for his opposition activities during the Polish People's Republic, Sikorski replied that “there are multitudes of distinguished people who later either betrayed or committed unworthy acts.” – And you have to evaluate the entire biography, and Macierewicz harmed Poland, he harmed the way he liquidated the WSI. Agents were exposed, current intelligence operations were revealed, translated into Russian, people who cooperated out of patriotism were harmed, he continued.

The guest of “Fakty po Faktach” also talked about his chances for the presidential nomination on behalf of the Civic Coalition. – I believe that the added value of the presidential office is that the president, if he has something to say, is listened to both at home and abroad – he said.

– I will shyly say that then, when I spoke at the UN Security Councilthis is being conveyed, i.e. the Polish point of view from the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs is being heard around the world. This can be done even more effectively from the president's position, Sikorski noted.

– It seems to me that the government needs a partner who would fulfill its constitutional role, that is, a representative of Poland and implementer of Polish foreign policy, and not a rival to the government in its creation – continued the head of Polish diplomacy. He added that “a president who would be listened to in the world could do a lot of good for Poland.”

To the presenter's comment that research suggests that in the second round of elections Sikorski would get a worse result than Rafał Trzaskowski and that the mayor of Warsaw has more power to persuade undecided voters, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied: – And I know a study that says that my support ceiling is higher. We're going head to head in this study. We are looking for as Civic Platform the best candidate for these difficult times. One who will win.

Sikorski said that the “key question” in the context of his competition with Trzaskowski for the presidential nomination is who has greater coalition ability. – Not in the party sense, but in the sense of attracting new voters. Those who voted for someone else in the first round – he continued.

– I argue that the Left rather supports my Europeanness, which I have proven. For PSL, the fact that I am a boy from Bydgoszcz, I live in the countryside, we cooperated well within the group of the European People's Party in Brussels, in Strasbourg, is a guarantee. But I also receive expressions of sympathy from those around the Confederation, where there is a lot of such libertarian Polish business. And this study also shows that I would even have some popularity among the electorate of today's opposition – argued Radosław Sikorski.

Sikorski also talked about relations with Ukraine. He was asked about the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles that are flying towards Poland before they even enter our territory, which is what the president demands. Volodymyr Zelensky. – This discussion is about where the right to self-defense begins and ends. Do we have the right to shoot down such a missile only when it is already over our territory? Then there is no doubt about it, only that then what happened in Przewodowo may happen. The remains of such a rocket can cause damage, injure or kill someone, he said.

He said there “can be a fair difference of opinion” on this Ukrainian request. – This is a matter of agreement and discussion among our allies. We have a new NATO Secretary General. There is another NATO ministerial meeting next week. Perhaps this matter will be included (on the agenda of the talks – ed.) – noted Minister Sikorski.

The head of Polish diplomacy was also asked whether it would be possible to reach an agreement with the current Ukrainian authorities regarding the exhumation of the victims of the Volhynia massacre. – I must say that I am disappointed because the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine promised me progress in this matter by All Saints' Day. It's passed – no progress. We believe that it is part of the European cultural code to bury the bodies of even enemies according to the Christian rite. And Ukraine seems to agree with this, because it allowed the exhumation of 100,000 Wehrmacht soldiers who came there as invaders, Sikorski pointed out.

– The only thing we need is consent to return to exhumations, which were suspended in 2017 – he emphasized.

Sikorski was also asked whether he still believed in the release of Andrzej Poczobut, who is imprisoned by the Belarusian regime.

– We all know what kind of regime this is. We are trying to influence this situation through various channels, both on our continent and in consultation with our allies. But let us remember that Belarus has more political prisoners in proportion to its population than Poland did during martial law. Just as Russia has more political prisoners than in the declining Soviet Union than in Brezhnev's time, he replied.