OPINION:
For years, many Americans have relied on Polish-American journalist and writer Anne Applebaum for their analysis of Polish politics — without realizing that Ms. Applebaum is not a neutral observer.
Ms. Applebaum has been a relentless critic of the center-right Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS), or Law and Justice, party in Poland, which supported Karol Nawrocki. Mr. Nawrocki recently won Polish presidential election. The PiS, which is pro-working class but conservative on social issues, was formerly in charge of the Polish government — but since the 2023 parliamentary election, it has remained in opposition to the current government, which is led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Mr. Tusk represents a center-left coalition led by progressive Platforma Obywatelska (PO), or Civic Platform.
Ms. Applebaum described Mr. Nawrocki to readers in The Atlantic as a “nationalist” representing “authoritarian populism.” In my view as a journalist who has covered American and Eastern European politics for more than half a century, this description misinterprets the political landscape in Poland, as well as Mr. Nawrocki’s conservatism, which is mainstream, tolerant and focused on increasing personal freedom. It is also focused on securing Poland’s security and independence from encroachments by Russia, Germany and the European Union bureaucracy. He does not want Poland to leave the EU; he wants to help reform it.
Ms. Applebaum’s one-sided analysis harms Poland’s image in the United States by raising unsupported fears. Furthermore, portraying Mr. Nawrocki and the majority of Poles as nationalists rather than people who love their country and its roots in European Christian culture helps Russia’s autocrat Vladimir Putin undermine traditionally strong Polish-American friendship among Democrats.
Poland is a post-Cold War success story and will remain one of America’s closest allies in Europe regardless of who is in charge of the Polish government. Perversely, Ms. Applebaum’s frequent and increasingly alarmist articles about the alleged rise of extreme nationalism in Poland and elsewhere contribute to increasing polarization within Western societies and between NATO allies by reinforcing Kremlin propaganda. This may not be her intention, but it is precisely what Mr. Putin wants from partisan Western journalists on both ends of the political spectrum.
Ms. Applebaum is a dual citizen of the United States and Poland and, more importantly, is the wife of current Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, a political adversary of PiS and the president-elect of Poland. With his own political ambitions, Mr. Sikorski did everything possible to derail Mr. Nawrocki’s election, as did Mr.Tusk and the government-controlled Polish public TV and Radio. Mr. Sikorski had earlier attempted to become a presidential candidate in the primary elections within his PO party. After he lost, he threw his support behind the now twice-failed, center-left candidate, Warsaw’s Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.
In her recent piece in The Atlantic, Ms. Applebaum mentions her marriage to Mr. Sikorski. However, she has frequently failed to disclose it in many other pieces she has written for American newspapers and magazines over the years in which she has condemned the former democratically elected and reelected PiS government. Ms. Applebaum is also a relentless critic of President Trump and other GOP politicians — a curious display of journalistic hostility by the wife of the foreign minister of a country whose security depends mainly on the U.S. president.
During the election campaign, alleged illegal foreign donations helped Mr. Trzaskowski’s supporters launch an unprecedented vilification campaign against Mr. Nawrocki, his wife, his wife’s son (whom Mr. Nawrocki adopted after the marriage) and even their 7-year-old daughter. Mr. Nawrocki never said anything hateful against his opponent, despite what he called the “festival of hate” against him and his family. In one of his campaign speeches, he even quoted from the Sermon on the Mount, calling for dialogue and tolerance for human frailties. He was calm and moderate in his campaign speeches. The majority of younger voters supported him.
After his victory, allies of Messrs. Trzaskowski and Tusk claimed the election results were somehow falsified — even though Mr. Nawrocki was an opposition candidate. These were entirely false claims. A member of the Polish artistic elite also attempted to question the legitimacy of Mr. Nawrocki’s victory by saying — reportedly in the presence of Mr. Sikorski — that he had won only because of the Kremlin’s interference and disinformation campaign. No Polish diplomat present stood up to contradict this false assertion. Russia has a warrant for Mr. Nawrocki’s arrest on criminal charges for supporting the removal of Soviet monuments in Poland as unwelcome symbols of communist propaganda.
Ms. Applebaum’s description of Mr. Nawrocki as a “nationalist” is particularly misleading, considering the term has acquired a strongly negative meaning in mainstream American media. The “right-wing” label is also deceptive because Mr. Nawrocki and PiS strongly support social programs for lower-income families, women and the elderly, making them closer to the Democratic Party of U.S. presidents Truman, Kennedy and Johnson than to the old Republican Party of Big Business.
The progressive privileged class in Poland is predominantly associated with the left and center-left parties, which supported Mr. Trzaskowski’s candidacy. Had he won, the close U.S.-Polish ties would have still endured, but would not have been as strong with the Trump administration as they are likely to be under President Nawrocki.
• Ted Lipien was Voice of America’s Polish service chief during Poland’s struggle for democracy and VOA’s acting associate director. He served briefly from 2020 to 2021 as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president.
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