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“Sacred Obligation”
Biden assures Poland of NATO assistance
03/26/2022, 5:11 p.m
The US President’s trip to Poland is marked by the Russian war against Ukraine. In the capital of the NATO member, he speaks not only with the Polish president, but also with Ukrainian ministers. A meeting with refugees is also on the agenda. A speech by Biden on the war is eagerly awaited.
US President Joe Biden has promised Poland loyalty to the NATO alliance in view of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “We consider Article 5 to be a sacred obligation and you can count on that,” Biden said at a meeting with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw. He assumes that Russian President Vladimir Putin “expected to be able to split NATO, to be able to separate the east flank from the west,” Biden said. But he wasn’t able to do that. Biden also held consultations in Warsaw with Ukraine’s foreign minister and defense minister.
Duda thanked Biden for his extraordinary leadership and for “the tough voice of the United States pushing for an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.” He stressed that there is also a great sense of threat among Poles. “Because we know what Russian imperialism means, and we know what an attack by the Russian army means, because our grandparents and great-grandparents experienced it, sometimes our parents too,” said Duda. Biden’s visit strengthens relations between the two countries and sends a good signal to American investors: “Where you arrive, it’s a safe and secure place.”
Biden meets refugees in EM stadium from 2012
Biden thanked Poland for taking in the refugees from Ukraine. “We recognize that Poland is taking on a great responsibility, which I believe should not only concern Poland. It should be the responsibility of the whole world, of the whole of NATO,” said the US President. The US government recently announced that it intends to take in up to 100,000 Ukrainians. Almost 2.27 million people from Ukraine have entered Poland so far. There is currently no official information on how many of them stayed in Poland and how many have already traveled to other countries.
Biden visited Warsaw’s National Stadium in the afternoon to get an impression of the relief effort for refugees and to speak to Ukrainians himself. Videos showed Biden talking to refugees. For example, he held a child longer in his arms, and he put his hands on a woman’s shoulders to comfort him. Biden said he spoke to several children who asked him to pray for their fathers, grandfathers or brothers who were fighting in Ukraine. He met “wonderful people” here, said Biden. Among them were two refugees from the embattled south-east Ukrainian town of Mariupol.
“He’s a butcher”
When a journalist then asked him what he thought of Putin given the fate of the refugees, Biden said: “He’s a butcher.” The President referred to Putin as “butcher” in English, which could also be translated with the German word “butcher”. Biden had previously called Putin a “war criminal.” The stadium in Warsaw was originally built for the 2012 European Football Championship, which Poland co-hosted with neighboring Ukraine.
Since March 19, refugees from Ukraine have been able to apply for a so-called national identification number (Pesel) in the stadium. This number is required for contact with Polish authorities, but also, for example, for access to the state health system. Two weeks ago, Duda signed a package of laws intended to make it easier for refugees from Ukraine to stay in Poland.
US President Biden joined the meeting with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
(Photo: AP)
Before his meeting with Duda, Biden had also consulted with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. They had met their respective US counterparts in Warsaw – Biden attended the meeting for about 40 minutes. Biden’s participation in ministerial-level talks is unusual – and suggested that Biden wanted to send a message of solidarity for Ukraine.
This Saturday is the second day of Biden’s trip to Poland. On Friday, Biden traveled to Rzeszow in southeastern Poland and visited US troops stationed there. The city is only around 90 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Biden plans to give an important speech on the war in Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday evening before returning to the United States.
The White House attaches great importance to Biden’s planned speech in the evening. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that the US President wanted to “discuss the importance of this moment”. Biden wanted to make it clear once again why it is so important for the West to show determination towards Russia in the face of the war in Ukraine. Russia must be held “accountable for its brutal war”.