A Digest of Political, Economic, Cultural and Historical News from Poland

Published: November 21, 2019

 

At the time when the American public is preoccupied with condemning President Trump for demanding personal favors in exchange for military support of Ukraine, and the impeachment hearings are the primary news of the day, two US Congressmen dare to send a letter to Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki demanding tax breaks for their friends who want to invest in copper mining in Poland, openly and brazenly using the military support of Poland as a bargaining chip.

According to the Polish press, two members of the US Congress demand that the Polish Government lowers the excavation tax on copper mining, brazenly blackmailing Poland right in the opening sentence of their letter: “since the US guarantees protection of Poland against Russian aggression, special privileges are due to the US in non-defense areas as well.” The two republican congressmen Neal P. Dunn and Joe Wilson write without any nuances on the official stationary of the US Congress that the best way to strengthen common interests in defense and maintain Polish-American alliance is the privileged tax treatment of US business in Poland’s natural resources industry!

Whereas,

It is deeply disturbing that this unethical blackmailing for financial gains is presented even in the name of NATO collective security system since both of the authors make reference to NATO as being at their disposal as members of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO. These two members of the American establishment simply claim that without a preferential treatment given to US investors in natural resources of Poland the security cooperation may suffer. Clearly, collective security ranks lower on their scale of priorities than the support of billionaires in their election campaigns. Likewise, US benefits from military cooperation with Poland do not even register on their radar screen. Furthermore, such impudent demands directed at the natural resources of a country are reminiscent of the worst possible colonial practices that Poland painfully experienced from Russia in the recent past.

Whereas,

Poland has one of the largest deposits of copper in the world. In terms of copper mining the country ranks 13th in the world. Therefore, many foreign investors eye the opportunity to exploit them. Among them is Thomas Kaplan, a billionaire from New York who manages Electrum Fund. This mogul plans to arrive in Poland in January 2020. In advance of his grand arrival, the fierce lobbying strategy is put in place. In addition to engaging US Congress, Kaplan also lobbies through the US institutions such as Taxpayers Protection Alliance or international accounting firms like Erns & Young.

Therefore;

The Polish-Americans condemn in strongest terms such unethical blackmailing practices of US Congress Representatives. Poland is not and will not be a colony of the United States for exploitation purposes. The Polish-American military alliance must be based on commonly accepted principles of partnership, respect and mutual interest. The military cooperation benefits Poland as much as the US! Accordingly, not every US business activity has strategic significance, not every American investment is essential for military cooperation, and not every American product is the best in Poland. There is nothing more damaging to the long term Polish-American relations than treating Poland like Bandustan.

Therefore,

The Polish-Americans urge the leadership of the US Republican Party to take appropriate steps in order to remedy the unethical actions of Congressmen Dunn and Wilson who exceeded their authority and overstepped acceptable norms in US-Polish relations.

 

Sources:

Polskie podatki pod lupą USA
https://www.rp.pl/Dyplomacja/191129890-Polskie-podatki-pod-lupa-USA.html

Kongresmani domagają się zmian w polskim prawie w interesie amerykańskiego miliardera chcącego wydobywać w Polsce miedź.
https://kresy.pl/wydarzenia/gospodarka/kongresmani-domagaja-sie-zmian-w-polskim-prawie-w-interesie-amerykanskiego-miliardera-chcacego-wydobywac-w-polsce-miedz/?fbclid=IwAR1nqAWMzEFaILj3TOlmZH2SHY-cdmFmo-T9MNMPmI3RLpy2Fip2wn7FRw0

Jerzy Haszczyński: Dobra Polska, dobra. Ułatwi nam biznes https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/191129897-Jerzy-Haszczynski-Dobra-Polska-dobra-Ulatwi-nam-biznes.html