US embassy cable - 05WARSAW2889

C O N F I D E N T I A L  WARSAW 002889 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
EUR FOR A/S FRIED; NSC FOR DAMON WILSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MARR, PL, Polish Elections 
SUBJECT: EUR ASSISTANT SECRETARY FRIED BREAKFAST WITH CIVIC 
PLATFORM LEADER JAN ROKITA 
 
 
Classified By: CDA, A.I., MARY T. CURTIN, FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) EUR A/S Dan Fried held a breakfast meeting July 11 
with Jan Rokita, the head of the centrist Civic Platform 
(PO).  Rokita, who is likely to become Prime Minister should 
PO lead a coalition government after the September 2005 
parliamentary elections, reviewed the political state of play 
in the lead-up to the elections, describing honesty in 
government and economic competitiveness as the top issues. 
On foreign policy, Fried urged Rokita to meet with Iraq 
Coordinator Ambassador Richard Jones and CENTCOM Deputy 
Commander General Smith during their upcoming visit to 
Warsaw.  He also urged Rokita to think of Polish-U.S. 
bilateral relations in new terms, with Poland as a partner of 
the U.S. and regional leader.  End Summary 
 
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DOMESTIC POLITICS 
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2.  (C) Fried, accompanied by Ambassador, NSC Director for 
Central, Eastern and Northern Europe Damon Wilson, and 
PolCouns, met July 11 with Rokita, who was accompanied by 
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a PO Member of the European Parliament 
and informal foreign policy advisor to Rokita.  Fried asked 
Rokita for a preview of the upcoming parliamentary and 
presidential elections.  Rokita complained about the election 
schedule, with presidential elections just two weeks after 
the September 25 parliamentary elections.  It not only pits 
PO against its likely coalition partner, Law and Justice 
(PiS), but also means that the parties must, in effect have 
two leaders--a presidential candidate and parliamentary list 
leader, and run two campaigns at once.  Rokita said he could 
not predict which party, PO or PiS, would lead the coalition, 
noting that PiS had pulled ahead of PO in recent months.  He 
predicted that if PiS leads, it could hurt PiS leader Lech 
Kaczynski's chances in the October 9 presidential voting, as 
Poles tend to balance their voting, and do not want to see 
twin brothers (Jaroslaw Kaczynski heads PiS's parliamentary 
list) as President and Prime Minister.  Rokita said he 
believes the two parties will have a clear majority of 
parliamentary seats.  If not, however, they will not look to 
the Catholic nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR).  He 
described LPR leader Roman Giertych as "extremely talented," 
and said he is pushing the party to "evolve," but LPR's 
position is weakened by the past Communist associations of 
Roman's father, Maciej Giertych, who is also LPR's 
presidential candidate. 
 
3.  (C) Rokita cited honesty in government as the most 
critical issue facing the next administration.  He defined 
the problem as including corruption, but extending also to a 
tolerance for the lack of rule of law, and the weakness of 
the state.  The second critical issue for the next government 
will be economic competitiveness, including labor market 
problems, taxes, the budget deficit, and barriers to 
entrepreneurship.  PO and PiS have their greatest differences 
on these issues.  PO, he said, has a clearly liberal economic 
outlook, while PiS is more statist, wanting a strong 
government hand to protect various groups in society, 
including those with jobs in certain sectors. 
(Saryusz-Wolski called Kaczynski a "traditional socialist" on 
social/economic issues.)  Rokita said PO will insist on its 
economic platform if it leads a coalition.  He described what 
he saw as a "generational change" in economic outlooks, with 
economic liberals having a chance to be strong. 
 
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FOREIGN POLICY AND 
POLAND'S EVOLVING ROLE 
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4.  (C) Turning to foreign policy issues, Fried said we want 
to see a strong Europe that is a partner, not a rival, of the 
U.S.  Amb. Ashe added that we see Poland playing a strong 
role in shaping a new vision of Europe.  On Iraq, Fried said 
we are making progress politically, with the government 
gaining legitimacy.  As this happens, the military will also 
keep gaining legitimacy, and become more capable, allowing 
coalition partners to stand back.  Fried briefed Rokita on 
the upcoming visit of Iraq Coordinator Amb. Richard Jones and 
CENTCOM Deputy Commander Smith to Poland, and urged him to 
accept a briefing on the situation in Iraq (to which other 
opposition parties would also be invited). 
 
5. (C)  Fried emphasized to Rokita the importance we attach 
to Polish-U.S. bilateral relations.  He urged Rokita, who is 
 
 
normally focused almost entirely on domestic political 
issues, to think about Poland's future as a regional and 
world leader.  Poland now counts in Europe, he said, and its 
views are taken seriously in Washington.  President Bush has 
good relations with Polish President Kwasniewski, and talks 
to him not just about issues to the east but also to the 
west.  He urged that PO and PiS leaders consider sending a 
team to Washington as soon as possible after elections, if it 
turns out they form the next government. 
 
6.  (C) Rokita responded that he appreciated the "kind words" 
about Poland's role, but said he is also a "realist," and 
knows there are many more important countries in the world, 
mentioning Russia in this context.  Voicing a sentiment 
shared by many in his party and PiS, he said Poland does not 
always feel it is important to the U.S.  Poles, he said, 
often feel disappointed with the level of Poland's 
relationship with the U.S., and feel theirs is an "unrequited 
love."  Pro-Americanism in Poland, he said, has diminished. 
Fried argued that Rokita was mistaken about the U.S view of 
Poland.  The U.S. works, for example, to have good relations 
with Russia, but it will not sacrifice its friends to be 
friends with Putin.  Fried pointed to the President's trip to 
Moscow in May, preceded and followed by trips to Riga and 
Tblisi.  Saryusz-Wolski responded that Poles had "taken note" 
of Bush's message and appreciated it. 
 
7.  (C)  Fried continued that Polish-U.S. relations used to 
be about Poland--about Poland's freedom and then Poland's 
place in Europe.  Those problems have been solved, and the 
new leadership of Poland should start to think of U.S.-Polish 
relations on a new level.  When Rokita responded that Poland 
was still a "poor country," with "limited ability to be a 
partner," Fried responded by urging Rokita to stop thinking 
in terms of "poor, courageous Poland" and start thinking of 
the future, when Poland will be a prosperous country, able to 
play a leading European as well as regional role.  Poland's 
new leadership needs to think of Poland as a partner of the 
U.S., not as a client or a recipient of assistance, and urged 
him to plan for Poland as it will be in 15 years, not as it 
was in the past. 
 
8.   (C) A/S Fried has cleared the text of this cable. 
CURTIN