Trump heads for Poland in hope of building bridges with Europe
● Polish leader says talks will tackle issues like energy security
Donald Trump headed back to Europe last night hoping to receive a friendly welcome in Poland despite lingering scepticism across the continent over his presidency.
Doubts remain in Europe over his commitment to Nato, his past praise of Russian president Vladimir Putin and his decision to pull the US out of a major climate agreement.
Mr Trump was to arrive in Warsaw for a brief visit that will include a speech in Krasinski Square, near the site of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis.
He is to meet the leaders of Poland and Croatia and hold a joint press conference with Polish president Andrzej Duda.
Mr Duda said his talks with Mr Trump will not be “some general talk about world security” but will tackle concrete issues like energy security for a region still dependent on gas and oil deliveries from Russia.
Before moving on to an international summit in Germany, Mr Trump will also hold meetings with the leaders of a dozen countries located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas at a summit of the Three Seas Initiative, which aims to expand and modernise energy and trade. One of the initiative’s goals is to make the region less dependent on Russian energy.
“Even if he doesn’t mention Putin or Russia outright, just stepping foot in Poland sends a powerful statement,” said Jim Carafano, a foreign policy analyst at conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation.
“Europe is working for energy independence – looking for
0 Andrzej Duda said that talks will not be about world security free market solutions – and Poland is in the middle of that energy corridor, so it makes so much sense that the president would go there and talk about energy policy.”
Mr Trump will have to balance his visit to Europe with escalating tensions with North Korea, after the US concluded that Pyongyang had testlaunched its first intercontitre nental ballistic missile. The US, South Korea and Japan responded to the provocation by requesting an emergency session of the UN Security Council.
Mr Trump returns to Europe after a shaky first trip in May and signs of unhappiness around the globe with the start of his presidency.
A recent Pew Research Cen- survey of attitudes towards Mr Trump in more than three dozen countries found fewer than three in ten respondents expressed confidence in his ability to do the right thing on international affairs.
Most of those surveyed disapproved of Mr Trump’s major policies, including temporarily halting travel from six mostly Muslim countries. Among the 37 countries Pew surveyed, Mr Trump scored higher marks than his predecessor, president Barack Obama, in only two: Russia and Israel.
His first trip to Europe as president saw a series of awkward encounters, including a tough speech to the leaders of Nato countries urging them to spend more on their armed forces, an uncomfortable handshake with France’s new president, and a caughton-camera moment when he pushed past the prime minister of Montenegro while squeezing his way to the front of a crowd.