VZCZCXRO2671
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHWR #1097/01 1311530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111530Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4192
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW PRIORITY 1693

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 001097 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PL
SUBJECT: FM FOTYGA OUTLINES POLISH FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES 
 
WARSAW 00001097  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Entire text is sensitive but unclassified (SBU). 
 
¶1.  Summary:  FM Anna Fotyga outlined the government's 
foreign policy priorities in a two hour report to the Polish 
Parliament on May 11.  Fotyga repeatedly stressed the need 
for greater energy security, referring to it as the "flagship 
issue" of Poland's foreign policy.  She did little to 
ameliorate Poland's chilly relations with its two most 
important neighbors, Russia and Germany.  She called on 
Moscow to "treat all EU countries equally and with equal 
dignity," commenting that Russian elites do not "accept or 
endorse" views from EU states that were formerly in their 
sphere of influence.  With respect to Germany, Fotyga stated 
that "raising historical issues has consequences today," in 
reference to a proposed center for German expellees and 
property claims made by Germans on former German territory. 
Fotyga praised the United States as the "guarantor of global 
order," saying that Poland's experience with Solidarity led 
to Poland's decision to send forces to Iraq and Afghanistan. 
She said that the upcoming visit of President Bush would 
focus on Missile Defense, adding that Poland's security 
concerns must be addressed and that any added infrastructure 
must be "conducive to our joint security."  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  FM Anna Fotyga delivered a two hour speech on the 
government's foreign policy objectives on May 11 with Polish 
President Lech Kaczynski, with his Lithuanian counterpart 
Valdas Adamkus, looking on.  With an energy summit covening 
in Krakow today bringing together the leaders of Poland, 
Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine, Fotyga made 
repeated references to energy security, calling it the 
"flagship issue" of Poland's foreign policy.  In a swipe at 
the Russian-German plan to construct the Nord-Stream pipeline 
under the Baltic Sea bypassing Poland, she called on the EU 
to promote responsibility and solidarity among all member 
states, and argued Poland should not be cut out.  She said 
that while relations with Russia must be "good and 
pragmatic," it was important to diversify sources of energy, 
praising efforts to promote constuction of a northern 
pipeline from Poland to Denmark and Norway, and urging 
further cooperation with Central Asian nations on energy 
matters. 
 
¶3.  After one reference to Germany's position as Poland's 
main partner in the EU, Fotyga had little positive to add 
about Berlin, criticizing the proposed center for German 
expellees -- an issue of enormous preoccupation for the 
government here -- and pending German claims for property 
lost after World War II when the German borders moved 
westward.  Such claims, according to Fotyga, were completely 
void under Polish and internatonal law.  Fotyga criticized 
Germany for "raising historical issues that have consequences 
today," called the proposed Baltic pipeline between Russia 
and Germany an "ill-conceived notion," and called on better 
treatment of the Polish minorities abroad -- both in Germany 
and in Belarus. 
 
¶4.  Fotyga said that foreign leaders now routinely travel to 
Warsaw because Polish views are important, citing  President 
Bush's travel to Jurata on June 8.  She praised the United 
States as the "guarantor of global security," and said that 
the foremost topic of the presidential discussion will be 
Missile Defense.  To a round of applause she said that 
Poland's "possible security concerns must be addressed," 
adding that any added infrastructure must be "conducive to 
our joint security."  She also mentioned the desirability of 
"cutting edge technology transfers" as part of the F-16 
off-set program, and called on increased Polish-American 
youth exchanges. 
 
¶5.  In the follow-on debate and questioning, Pawel Zalewski, 
the Law and Justice (PiS) head of the Sejm's Foreign Policy 
Committee, urged all members of the Sejm to agree to reach a 
consensus on three critical issues to Poland's foreign 
policy:  Missile Defense, relations with Germany and the 
voting system within the European Union.  On the last 
subject, Fotyga said that Poland should not rush to a 
decision and that a Constitutional Treaty was not 
"indispensable." 
 
¶6.  Opposition critics jumped on Fotyga's discussion of 
missile defense.  Civic Platform's Bronislaw Komorowski 
complained that Secretary of Defense Gates issued an 
invitation to the Russians to inspect any missile sites 
constructed in Poland.  He also raised the failed effort by 
PM Kaczynski to overfly Iraq to travel to the Gulf, and said 
that Poland had not gained enough in return for its 
participation in the Iraq and Afghan missions.  Government 
coalition partners Samoobrona (SO) and the League of Polish 
Families (LPR) questioned some aspects of Fotyga's speech. 
SO's Mateusz Piskorski said that "real partnership" with the 
United States was desirable, but noted "a striking, 
 
WARSAW 00001097  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
unbalanced approach."  He cited U.S. visa policy, a favorite 
whipping horse, as an example of unequal treatment.  LPR's 
Janusz Dobrosz said his party was against MD, called on 
Poland's withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and 
said that the current partnership with the United States 
found Poland in a "subordinate" position, inherited from 
previous governments.  A representative from the Democratic 
Left Alliance (SLD) harrangued Fotyga for what she called 
Poland's inept foreign policy. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  Fotyga's statements on Missile Defense 
track with what the Embassy has heard privately with GOP 
officials about linking Poland's broader security concerns to 
their negotiations over constructing missile defense 
interceptor sites in Poland.  In the polarized poltical 
climate in Poland, it is not surprising that the opposition 
would counter any positive statements about Polish-U.S. 
relations with reserve or complaints.  However, it is notable 
that opposition parties, especially PO, are playing to public 
misgivings about MD.  Fotyga did little to improve Poland's 
chilly relations with Germany and Russia. 
ASHE