Poland’s President Walks a Tightrope Between Trump and Tusk

Why the far-right Polish politician was not enthusiastic about the 'Board of Peace'

22 January 2026

Wojciech Przybylski

Editor-in-Chief

Poland will cling to transatlantic relations for as long as Washington delivers hard power and profits – but Warsaw is quietly building a European security fallback for the day when it does not.

Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s president, did not rush to accept Donald Trump’s invitation to the so-called ‘Board of Peace’ meeting on Thursday. The hesitation was telling. Despite Warsaw’s unusually warm relations with the American president, Nawrocki took part in the inaugural meeting, but did not sign the ‘Board of Peace’ charter.

In contrast, Viktor Orbán seized the opportunity with pride and enthusiasm, hoping the gesture might bolster his flagging position at home – before the elections in which the stakes are high. Nawrocki is not facing any immediate electoral pressure. Yet the choice carried weight in the long run. His political future – and Poland’s broader foreign and security posture – hung in the balance.

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Wojciech Przybylski

Editor-in-Chief

Wojciech Przybylski is leading strategic foresight on EU affairs to improve democratic security of Poland in Europe. He organises EuropeFuture.Forum as the Editor of Visegrad Insight and the President of Res Publica Foundation. An advisory board member at LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum, European Forum of New Ideas. A guest lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute for the U.S. Government, Warsaw University and CEU Democracy Institute. He co-authored among others a book 'Understanding Central Europe’, (Routledge 2017), and 'On the Edge. Poland' (Culturescapes 2019), 'Let's Agree on Poland' (Oxford University Press, 2025) and was widely published in the international press.

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