US cuts contact with Polish Parliament speaker over Trump ‘insults’

Summary

• US Ambassador Rose cut ties with Poland's Parliament Speaker Czarzasty after Czarzasty criticised Trump and his Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
• Czarzasty stated Trump "is destabilising the situation" and doesn't deserve the Nobel Prize due to his "politics of force."
• Rose condemned Czarzasty's "outrageous and unprovoked insults," pledging to protect US-Polish relations and Trump's reputation.

WARSAW - The US ambassador in Warsaw cut off contact with Poland’s Parliament speaker on Feb 5, accusing him of insulting Mr Donald Trump after he criticised the president’s policies and declined to support his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions.

Ambassador Tom Rose’s furious response to Parliament speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty underlined the precarious balancing act politicians from Poland’s pro-European coalition government face in keeping their most important ally onside while Mr Trump is pursuing America First policies many of them find unnerving.

Mr Czarzasty said on Feb 2 he would not support an initiative put forward by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to rally heads of parliaments to nominate Mr Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026 for his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.

“In my opinion, President Trump is destabilising the situation in these (international) organisations by representing the politics of force and using force to pursue a transactional policy,” Mr Czarzasty, leader of The Left, the junior coalition partner in the government, told journalists.

“All of this means that I will not support President Trump’s Nobel Prize nomination because he doesn’t deserve it.”

Mr Rose lashed out at Mr Czarzasty on Feb 5, saying Washington will have no further “dealings, contacts, or communications” with him, effective immediately.

“(Czarzasty’s) outrageous and unprovoked insults directed against President Trump has made himself a serious impediment to our excellent relations with Prime Minister Tusk and his government,” he wrote on social media platform X on Feb 5.

“We will not permit anyone to harm US–Polish relations, nor disrespect (Trump) who has done so much for Poland and the Polish people.”

In response, Mr Czarzasty wrote on X that he regretted the ambassador’s reaction but would not change his position on fundamental issues. REUTERS