Sikorski: "Trump was right about some things"
The liberal-conservative MEP and former Foreign Minister of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorksi, assesses Donald Trump's policies in a DW interview ahead of the US election. His conclusion: Poland would miss him.
Deutsche Welle: What do you expect from the US elections? Is the nightmare over? Because that's how many Europeans saw the Trump administration. Or is there an extension?
We don't know who will win. In fact, the Democrats need more votes to win than the Republicans. This is not a good example to follow. That is a problem with American democracy. I have to tell you, for the first time I am really going to read the reports of the election observers of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
But let's say Joe Biden wins. Then I think we could rebuild some trust in the relationships. We could get rid of some of the idiotic economic sanctions and develop a common strategy to address many problems: Not just climate change and terrorism, but the growing power of China.
What do you think President Trump has done for European-American relations over the past four years? Are we better than before?
I think he shook confidence in American reliability, even if he was right about some things. It was right to press the European allies to increase defense spending. I have to say, I also liked Trump's style a bit. When George W. Bush and Barack Obama kindly tried, it didn't work. I say that from my perspective as a Pole.
He did the right thing in imposing sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. This is a project in which Germany prefers its economic interests to European interests, especially those in Central Europe. So, from that point of view, not everything went completely negative.
Of course, the way he got out of the Paris Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal is negative. Just like the inefficient diplomacy with North Korea.
What we will remember here is the unfortunate appearance at the Helsinki summit with Russian President Putin. He said he trusted President Putin more than his own FBI. That has seriously damaged the confidence that President Trump would stand up against future Russian aggression.
Some European states were not that unhappy with the Trump presidency. You mentioned your own homeland, Poland. Others may also see Trump as a kind of model for a nationalist and isolationist approach.
In Poland we have a nationalist government and a traditionalist president. You have fully relied on an ideological alliance with President Trump. In return, they received some vague promises that troops would be transferred from Germany to Poland. This is something that many Polish governments have supported before. Should Trump lose, our administration and our president would be pretty sidelined. It would be difficult for them to develop a relationship with Joe Biden.
Would the European Parliament breathe a sigh of relief if Joe Biden won? Because they could hope for a return to a multilateral approach in international relations.
As you know, President Trump called us, the European Union, opponents. He has now weakened his rhetoric a little. But I don't think I'm alone when I say that he sees the alliance with democracies as a burden and not as an asset to the United States. Joe Biden is a predictable figure. I've met him several times. We know he's a transatlantic. And I know for a fact that he and his team are already working on a major policy change towards the EU. Yes, I think it would be easier for us to come to terms with an America run by Joe Biden.
If Trump won and ran for a second term, would the pressure on Europe and its allies increase? Would he put more pressure on NATO or even threaten to leave it, as his former security advisor John Bolton has announced?
If he gets a second term, then we'll really get to know the Americans and the political system in America. Of course we would then have to get serious about European autonomy and taking precautions for our own security. Right now, our political leaders only talk about it, but don't act. They do not spend real money on European defense and do not follow the requirements of the EU Treaty of Lisbon, which provides for a common foreign policy. They talk but do nothing. If we get Trump II, then I hope we start doing it in earnest.
Which of the two possible presidents would be better at keeping Russia in check? Biden or Trump?
President Trump's relationship with Russian President Putin is, shall we say, strange. But look at how he really acted. He expelled Russian diplomats after the Skripal double spy was poisoned in Great Britain. He has maintained the rotating stationing of US troops in the Baltic States and Poland. I'm not sure President Putin is really happy with the way this is going. However, Trump can break up NATO with a single tweet when he says he would not defend Lithuania or Latvia. We know Joe Biden would never send a tweet like this. We all have to worry that President Trump might do this.
Radoslaw Sikorski is a member of the European Parliament and chairs the parliamentary delegation for the United States of America. The politician from the liberal-conservative Civic Platform was Poland's Foreign Minister from 2007 to 2014.
