U.S. Embassy: Biden in Warsaw

The following is a U.S. Embassy Warsaw report.*

Vice President Biden Visits Warsaw

On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, Vice President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr., visited Warsaw to discuss a range of bilateral issues with Polish authorities, including expanding trade and investment, strengthening democracy in the region, and cooperating to meet common security challenges both bilaterally and through NATO. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

New U.S. Ambassador in Poland faces crisis

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — Lee A. Feinstein, the new U.S. Ambassador to Poland, arrived in Warsaw on October 13, 2009. He faces a serious crisis in U.S.-Polish relations, precipitated by President Obama’s decision to remove the American missile shield from Poland. Warsaw’s fears and suspicions have been made far worse by the clumsy handling of the decision’s announcement on September 17, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

US Embassy Warsaw sees insensitive timing of Obama’s missile decision

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — Displaying unprecedented boldness for a US diplomatic mission, the US Embassy in Warsaw conceded on its official public website that Poles believe that the “insensitive timing” — as the Embassy put it — of the Obama administration announcement on canceling the US missile shield system in Central Europe “shows that Obama does not understand Poland.” In what may be a deliberate US public diplomacy effort to repair the public relations damage in Poland, a news item on the embassy website, posted in both English and Polish, acknowledged that “the timing of Obama’s announcement upset Poland and Polish Americans because it came on Sept. 17, the 70th anniversary of the Russian invasion CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

Ambassador to Poland Confirmed by US Senate

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — The United States Senate has unanimously confirmed on Sept. 23, 2009 Lee A. Feinstein, Hillary Clinton’s former political advisor, as the next US Ambassador to Poland. It is unclear what role he may have played, if any, in the public diplomacy fiasco of announcing the removal of the missile shield decision by President Obama on the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland and whether he tried to influence the timing of the announcement.

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US Ambassador to Poland Says Farewell

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — The outgoing US Ambassador to Poland Arthur H. Ashe has written a long farewell letter. What’s remarkable about this letter from President George W. Bush’s appointee is that it makes no references to the missile defense issue and the current state of the US-Polish strategic partnership. Obviously, Ambassador Ashe was unable to dissuade President Obama from scrapping the missile shield in Poland and Czech Republic nor was he able to affect the timing of the White House announcement, which was made on Sept. 17, the day of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

Ambassador-Designate Feinstein on US-Polish Ties

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — President Obama’s Ambassador-Designate to Poland is Lee A. Feinstein who is on leave from the Brookings Institution, where he has been a Visiting Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies. He was National Security Director to Hillary Rodham Clinton during her presidential campaign. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE

Farewell Interview with Ambassador Ashe – No Mention of 9/17

Opinia.US SAN FRANCISCO — The interview with the outgoing US Ambassador to Poland Victor H. Ashe was conducted by a US Embassy Warsaw press attache on September 17, 2009, the day of President Obama’s announcement about discarding the American missile defense system in Poland and Czech Republic. CZYTAJ DALEJ READ MORE