It was in the courtyard of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, in front of several hundred guests, that Joe Biden was applauded on Saturday March 26, several times, evoking mythical characters from Poland’s struggle for democracy, like John Paul II and Lech Walesa. On a screen mounted outside, a compact crowd was able to follow the statements of the American president on the war in Ukraine live.
” Do not be afraid “ : this is how Joe Biden began his speech of almost thirty minutes, recalling the words of Pope John Paul II in 1979, during his first trip to Poland. “Words that changed the world”insisted the host of the White House. “A year later, the Solidarity movement took root. This battle for freedom was not easy, it was long. » Joe Biden also spoke of the symbolism of Warsaw, a city “where freedom prevailed”. This earned the left bank of the Polish capital its destruction at 85% during the Second World War. The royal castle, which had not escaped the Nazi bombardments, was rebuilt by the communist power, like the old town.
“The rule of law, free and fair elections (…) freedom of press. These are essential principles in a free society. But they were always under siege (…) The fighting in Kyiv, Melitopol and Kharkiv are the last battles of a long fight”, continued the 79-year-old Democratic president, listing the incursions of Soviet Warsaw Pact tanks: in Hungary and Poland, in 1956, in Czechoslovakia, in 1968; or even the 1981 martial law in Poland.
Vladimir Putin “cannot stay in power”
Returning to the XXIe century, Joe Biden insisted on dismantling the current rantings of the Kremlin – the “denazification” of Ukraine and the forthcoming enlargement of NATO, described by Vladimir Putin as a threat to Russia – and reaffirmed his support for kyiv, a victim “of brute force and misinformation to satisfy a thirst for absolute power”. The American president recalled the efforts of the West to counter Russian aggression: the imposition of economic sanctions, on the one hand, and the military, economic and humanitarian assistance provided to the Ukrainians, on the other. The American president also resumed commitments made earlier in the day, during his meeting with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, to the address of Russia: “Don’t think for a second of moving an inch on NATO territory. We have a sacred obligation under article 5 (…) of NATO ”.
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