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On his way to a potentially fractious G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, American President Donald Trump made a brief visit to Poland on July 6, 2017. His Warsaw speech warned of threats to the survival of the West and called to defend “our civilisation” from terrorism, “the creep of government bureaucracy,” and the erosion of traditional values. In a hidden reference to a growing antagonism between Poland and the EU, President Trump praised conservative values, a distinct nod toward Poland’s controversial ruling Law and Justice Party, whose government is widely criticized in the EU for its “illiberal drift” and disrespect for the rule of law.
Milan Nič, senior fellow at the DGAP’s Robert Bosch Center, spoke with Daniela Schwarzer about Trump’s visit to Poland and the so-called Three Seas Initiative, whose summit in Warsaw President Trump also attended. In this podcast they also discuss Poland’s dilemmas within the EU, the revival of the “Weimar Triangle” (of Poland, France, and Germany), perceptions in Poland of the France’s new president, Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s key role as a bridge builder within the post-Brexit Europe.