In what appears to be an emerging ritual, Vice President Joe Biden is heading out to Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic to ostensibly talk missile defense. But in reality it looks like a mopping up operation after yet another faux pas by his Administration.
The last time Biden was on an apologize-and-salvage mission was when he ventured to Ukraine and Georgia in July, two weeks after his boss, President Barak Obama, was busy pushing reset buttons in Moscow. But Biden, a serial bumbler, had decided to give the Ukrainian leaders a didactic – and very public — lecture about how they should behave, and blurted in Tbilisi that the U.S. will not provide a “physical security guarantee to Georgia”, making a sensitive situation worse.
American rhetoric aside, after his visit Russia stepped up its pressure on Tbilisi and Kyiv.
Biden had his work cut out for him in Warsaw. Polish leaders and elites is still smarting from the Obama Administration meat-handed cancellation of the Bush-era missile defense on September 17, the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s invasion three weeks after Hitler’s.
Now, Joe Biden brought the good tiding: Poland will get “the right of first refusal” for deployment of SM-3 1A interceptors by 2015. Yet, these will defend against short and medium range missiles, while SM-1 missiles targeted long range missiles.
Next year, Warsaw will also receive Patriot-3 anti-aircraft missiles as promised. Yet, the angst caused by the original missile defense cancellation will not go away easily.
Betrayal and abandonment by the West in the face of Russian (or German) aggression has deep roots in Poland. The eighteenth century partitions by Austria-Hungary, Prussia and Russia, the suppression of revolts by the Russian Empire in the 19th, the national renaissance amidst the ashes of World War I, “miracle on the Visla”, the Nazi and Soviet occupation – all these caused deep trauma in the psyche of most Poles.
Mr. Biden should have his Polish history, when he ventured to meetings with President Lech Kaczinski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Polish opposition leaders. His Administration bromides that it does not recognize “sphere of influence” and works to improve security in Europe together with Russia and Central and Eastern European states may not be enough.
Poland is a key US ally in Central Europe and beyond. Its soldiers served with distinction in Iraq, and now putting their life on the line Afghanistan, the real frontline of freedom.
Warsaw bolsters Ukraine’s independence and often mistrusts anti-Americanism from the French and German Left. Millions of Poles are in touch with their cousins in the U.S. Joe Biden would have done well if he announced visa free travel for Poles who want to come and visit the United States.
Despite the Central European pessimism towards his boss (even despite the recent Nobel Peace Prize), Joe Biden should be treating Poland with respect it deserves. Russia, Iran and Venezuela will not stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States, despite “stretched hands” and “reset” buttons. And after the policies of outreach fail, U.S. will come back to those who recognize freedom’s value: Poland and Central Europe.
In today’s turbulent world, Poland is one of few friends America can count on, and hopefully will be able to for many decades to come.
Sending the Vice President to Poland and the Czech Republic this week could easily be another misstep by the Administration when it comes to handling relations with Central and Eastern Europe. Despite his seniority, the famously gaffe-prone Joe Biden may not be the wisest choice to handle Washington’s “damage control” exercise in Warsaw and Prague.
And damage has been done in abundance, not just to America’s diplomatic relations with Poland and the Czech Republic, but to its standing in this part of the world more broadly. President Obama’s abandonment of the Third Site missile defense agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic, hurriedly announced by the Administration on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet’s invasion of Poland, has led the Poles and Czechs to conclude that their interests can be discarded at will. It has also left them wondering whether transatlantic security really is indivisible, or whether some countries matter more to Washington than its fellow NATO partners.
The 2009 Transatlantic Trends survey revealed that Central and Eastern Europeans see America in a less positive light than Western Europeans, and are significantly less enthusiastic about Obama’s conduct of foreign policy than their Western counterparts. Turning this around will be no easy feat and it will certainly take more than a two-day visit by the Vice President and an offer to host small parts of America’s revised missile defense architecture.
Poland and the Czech Republic’s interest in hosting the Third Site missile defenses was always about a durable U.S. commitment to Europe and to their Central and Eastern European allies. Poland has long sought to layer? its relationship with America by complementing its NATO relationship with a stronger bilateral relationship. It has over 2,000 troops in Afghanistan and has made clear that it would seriously consider a U.S. request for additional troops – but only if it feels secure at home. Having Washington talk to Moscow more than it speaks to Warsaw does not build confidence.
For Joe Biden’s trip to be a success, he will have to back up Obama’s vague assurances with actual deliverables. There is plenty he can do on the security front with Warsaw, honoring elements of the package-deal that Poland signed with the previous Administration other than missile defense. The Administration can also put its weight behind Congressional review of the Visa Waiver Program, which excludes Poles from visa-free entry to the U.S., but includes most other EU countries including the Czech Republic.
By itself, Biden’s visit will not ameliorate the damage done to Polish-Czech-American relations by the Administration’s disastrous handling of the Third Site missile defense announcement and its overly-cozy relationship with Moscow. Now is the time for Biden to offer concrete measures to advance the Polish-American and Czech –American relationships.