B. President of the United States Barack Obama stated on Thursday during the Impact Congress in Poznań that the US Solidarity in relation to Europe depends on people, not a specific administration. He also noted that Europeans must realize that they could not “just count on the US in terms of defense.”
Obama also referred to the situation in Poland, assessing that the right approach is the one in which “progressive forces” form a broad coalition, try to understand more conservative communities. “If you want to be effective, you must listen to the perspectives of others,” he said.
In the conversation, which was conducted by the American historian prof. Timothy Snyder I who crowned the 10th edition of the Poznań Congress of Impact, Obama referred to American politics, but not mentioning even once by the name of President Donald Trump. “I do not think that it is a secret that I do not agree with some decisions that are currently taken by Washington,” he said briefly.
He emphasized that there is one message that he would love to convey, being “on this side of the Atlantic”. “The basic sense of solidarity that most Americans feel towards Europe is not dependent on our administration, but on our people,” he said.
He added when the Americans see “unbelievable generosity”, which Poland showed to Ukrainians escaping from the war, it gives them hope.
“This moment teaches us one thing after all – that progress in democracy, in human rights (…), all these great things, cannot be a work only the US” – said the former president. He added that Europeans must also realize that they cannot “just count on the US in the field of defense.”
Obama stated that the world order that raised us was “carved from the fire of World War II”, but since then the world has integrated so much that old structures no longer match it. In his opinion, despite the current political situation of the US, they still have a role to play in their strengthening.
Referring to the phenomenon of polarization, he considered the ideas of radical right to be “dangerous”, but he admitted that the errors were also made by leftist and centro -leather environments, which – as he noted – did not want to compromise. “Many young people (…) think that if someone disagrees with us, they must be a racist, sexist or homophobe. (…) I think that this pushed some of the voters to the second camp, because people do not want to be instructed or treated as fools” – he noted.
According to Obama, the right approach in this regard was taken by the “center of the center” in Poland, which in 2023 concluded a wide election coalition. “I think that progressive forces in Poland were right, trying to understand conservative, deeply religious, mostly rural communities. If you want to be effective and build broad coalitions, which can then actually push your projects forward, you must also hear the perspectives of others” – he emphasized.
The former president noted that hearing the perspective of the second, even the hostile side is also necessary in the international arena – in this context he mentioned his relations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I think that my vision of the world is better, and it leads to war, bestiality and gulags (…) However, partly because I listened and understood its perspective, we managed to conclude a nuclear agreement with Iran, which Russia supported, and Putin even agreed to suspend the sale of the Iran system of the anti -cancer defense, which would potentially cause an action from Israel and earlier War in the Middle East, “he said.
Obama also referred to the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, indicating that the Solidarity Movement was an inspiration for his faith in the possibility of change. “This is not the first time that the Americans should have been inspired by the outside world, that the fights that took place here in Central and Eastern Europe inspired America as well as – I hope – part of the fight with the past that works in America,” he said.
The meeting with Barack Obama was the culmination of this year's Impact Congress, whose last year's guest was his wife Michelle Obama. The queue to the main hall, in which the former US president performed, began to set up three hours before the beginning of the conversation, there was no vacancies.
Over 650 guests took part in the two -day event organized in Poznań, including politicians from various countries, media people and representatives of global companies.
The Polish Press Agency was his media patron. (PAP)
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