Letter to Barack Obama, President of the United States - Regarding Commitment to Poland

Letter

Dear Mr. President:

As champions of the U.S.-Poland partnership, we welcome your decision to visit Poland on June 4. This visit is vitally important, as it comes not only on the 25th anniversary of Poland regaining its liberty from communism, but also at the most challenging moment for the region since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

We therefore urge you to announce during your visit a set of decisive measures to strengthen America's commitment to Poland and the Polish people. These measures should encompass a renewed and long-term U.S. military commitment to NATO and Poland, as well as a U.S. government commitment to help Europe diversify its energy supplies away from Russia.

First and foremost, we encourage you to publicly reaffirm to the Polish people America's ironclad commitment to Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty. As part of this commitment, we urge you to propose a plan to increase U.S. and NATO support for the armed forces of Poland.

Second, we urge you to announce to continue to work with the Polish government to enhance U.S. missile defense efforts in Europe and in Poland. This plan should include a range of options, including a firm commitment to place a land-based interceptor site in Poland as well as full U.S. technical cooperation with Polish efforts to acquire their own missile defense.

Third, we urge you to announce that the U.S. government is fully committed to helping Europe diversify its energy supplies. Poland, along with our allies in the region, is heavily reliant on Russian energy that also makes it vulnerable to Russia's political pressure, as amply demonstrated when Gazprom cut supplies to Europe in 2008-2009 in its dispute with Ukraine. To help Europe lessen this dangerous dependence, U.S. must support all efforts to bring additional supplies to the market.

Mr. President, Russian aggression against a sovereign Ukraine represents a grave threat to the region and a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace. We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Polish allies to confront this challenge.

We look forward to your immediate response.

Sincerely,