Poland’s globalist Prime Minsiter Donald Tusk is facing criticism over his unfounded accusation that the United States would not remain “loyal” and come to Europe’s defence in the case of a war.
In an apparent shot across the bow against U.S. President Donald Trump, Polish PM Tusk has urged the European Union to develop a fully fledged defensive alliance, while claiming that the United States is not a trustworthy partner.
The former EU chief told the Financial Times that Europe’s “biggest, most important question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in our [Nato] treaties,” given that Russia could potentially attack a member state within “months”.
“For the whole eastern flank, my neighbours… the question is if NATO is still an organisation ready, politically and also logistically, to react, for example, against Russia if they try to attack,” he said.
“For us, it’s really important to know that everyone will treat the Nato obligations as seriously as Poland,” Tusk said, noting that by percentage of GDP, Warsaw is the top spender in NATO, though in absolute terms dwarfed by the United States.
“Washington treats Poland as the best and the closest ally in Europe. But for me, the real problem is what it is in practice if something happens,” the Polish PM continued. “I want to believe that [Article 5] is still valid, but sometimes, of course, I have some problems.”
“I don’t want to be so pessimistic… but what we need today is also practical context.”
Tusk, who previously played Brussels turncoat, by abandoning his former position as prime minister to take up the far more lucrative role of President of the European Council in 2014, only to come back and seek power once again in Warsaw in 2023, appears to be siding with the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron and EU cheif Ursula von der Leyen in attempting to seize upon the current transatlantic friction to push for the formation of an EU Army.
In his interview with the globalist FT paper, Tusk pointed to Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty, a relatively obscure defence pact, as a potential framework for creating a non-NATO European military alliance. Since agreed to, it has only been invoked once, by France following the 2015 Bataclan terror attacks.
The article states that “if a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. This shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States.”
“What you need if you want to have, not only on paper, a real alliance, is true tools and real power when it comes to defence instruments and mobility of militaries from country to country etc. It’s a very practical problem for today,” Tusk said. “This is why my obsession now and my mission is to reintegrate Europe.”
“It means common defence… a common effort to protect our eastern borders.”
Tusk’s successor as European Council President, Portuguese socialist António Costa, said on Friday that the recent Iranian strikes on Cyprus provided a “test case” on how a mutual defence pact could function, noting that “Greece, and then France, Italy, Spain and [the] Netherlands mobilised military equipment and forces” to assist Cyprus in the aftermath.
In contrast, the United Kingdom, despite having a base on the island, took three weeks to muster a warship to send to the region, and was forced to send that very warship to port just days later for maintenance.
The lacklustre response from the UK and other members of NATO, notably socialist Spain, which outright refused all access to its airspace and military bases to the United States during the Iran conflict, has led to the White House publicly questioning the current framework of the alliance and has floated the idea of punishing certain disloyal actors following the Iran war.
Nevertheless, President Trump has consistently maintained that he would honour the Article 5 mutual defence provision of the NATO agreement, and has been widely credited with bolstering NATO by pressuring allies to finally spend more on their own defence budgets.
Despite this, there has been a growing hum across Europe for further defence commitments, a supposed slap at President Trump, while doing exactly as he has asked.
A leader on this front has been French President Emmanuel Macron, who, in his final year in office, appears intent on salvaging some legacy points by leaving a mark on the European defence apparatus.
In addition to having long lobbied for an outright EU Army, President Macron has of late begun negotiations with fellow EU leaders on the prospect of extending the French nuclear arms umbrella across the continent to deter adversaries such as Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
As the only nuclear-armed power remaining in the European Union after the departure of the United Kingdom, France is in the driver’s seat for any potential common defence force, given that Paris would almost certainly retain sole control over the deployment of its nuclear warheads.
Earlier this month, President Macron travelled to Gdańsk to discuss with Prime Minister Tusk the possibility of forward-deploying French nuclear forces to Poland as part of this strategy.
Although a firmer defence structure has been a longstanding demand from President Trump, some have criticised Prime Minister Tusk for openly questioning the loyalty of the United States, which remains Warsaw’s most important military ally.
The leader of the opposition conservative Law and Justice party, Jarosław Kaczyński, said on Sunday that Tusk was being duped by Germany into making comments that were “destroying Polish-American relations” and lamented that Poland was being led “by people whom God shortchanged on any political abilities whatsoever.”
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