OUR INTERVIEW. How will Trump's possible return affect global security? Wąsik: Republicans have always stood firm against regimes

‘No new wars broke out under Donald Trump’s presidency, and now this is what Donald Trump is building his support on. The American people seem to believe him and as of today, in my opinion, he is the odds-on favourite to win,’ - Law and Justice MEP, former deputy minister of internal affairs and administration, former deputy head of the CBA Maciej Wąsik said in an interview with the portal wPolityce.pl

wPolityce.pl: The elections in the United States will be held on 5 November. There are many indications that Donald Trump may return to power. How could his potential presidency affect the security architecture in Poland, Europe and the world? For quite some time now, there has been a global campaign against the Republican candidate. The world’s media warn that his victory could negatively affect security issues. What do you think of this?

Maciej Wąsik, MEP for Law and Justice: There is no indication whatsoever that Donald Trump’s victory in America could make Poles less safe. Basically, Republican governments have always been tougher on regimes - after all, we recall the times of Ronald Reagan or the Bush presidency. In their time, this US security policy was very tough, and it was then that the Americans were the world’s gendarme.

I see no reason why Donald Trump’s victory should reduce the security of Poles. Quite the contrary. I am convinced that Trump knows the Polish reality very well, he knows Poland because, after all, he has been here and I think he appreciates Poland for the fact that, at least as one of the few countries in this part of Europe, it spends so much on armaments. It was always Trump’s condition that the Americans would not completely fund the security of certain countries that do not fulfil their obligations to NATO, i.e. do not spend more than two per cent of GDP on defence.

Donald Trump has announced that, if he comes to power, he will bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine. Is such a scenario at all possible and could it be in any way beneficial for Ukraine?

I am convinced that concessions should not be given to Putin and that strong signals should simply be sent to him that these concessions will not be made. Ending the war by making territorial concessions to Russia will only encourage Russia to engage in another conflict.

Indeed, no new wars broke out under Donald Trump’s presidency, now this is exactly what Donald Trump is building his support on. The American people seem to believe him, and as of today, in my opinion, he is the odds-on favourite to win. And it’s not just mine, as shown, for example, by Donald Tusk’s posts where he indicates on Twitter that he believes it is necessary to cooperate with any American president. This means that he also takes seriously the prospect of a Donald Trump victory.

If Donald Trump wins, what do you think he will actually do regarding Ukraine?

We will see. I think that these Republican governments have always been more advantageous for Poland, although you have to admit that Biden’s stance during the Ukrainian war was correct and this powerful American aid to Ukraine was precious. On the other hand, I always saw these Republican governments as putting more emphasis on security and fighting tyranny. This was not always the case under the Democrats, such as President Carter, who was making far-reaching concessions to regimes.

Another security issue is that of illegal migrants. The US, like the European Union, is struggling with a migrant crisis. Donald Trump has announced a tightening of this policy. In case of his electoral victory, is it possible that the EU will also change its approach and finally start to seriously fight for tight borders?

I hope this will happen, because the current American and European establishment are fighting illegal migration more in a declarative way than in an active way. It was Trump who built the wall on the border with Mexico and that represented such an important symbol showing that America would not allow any more. Later, when he lost the election, this immediate illegal migration increased.

I am convinced that firm, uncompromising action needs to be taken on this issue, and I am counting on America to set an example to Europe on how to deal with the problem.

The Poles do not need such an example, because what we did on the Polish-Belarusian border was the right thing to do - putting up the army, the Border Guard and the police, building a barrier. This is the way to fight illegal migration, not by legal aid and by inviting these people to facilities and afterwards ‘we will see what happens’.

Tłum. K.J.