Joe Biden’s energy policy will strengthen autocrats and Islamic terrorists, says the Polish Prime Minister

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has warned that President Joe Biden’s energy policy is playing into the hands of autocrats and terrorist organizations trying to undermine the US

Speak with News week During an interview in Warsaw, Morawiecki suggested that Biden’s move away from fossil fuels risks fueling dictatorships such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, which could channel funds to terrorist groups in the Middle East and beyond.

Biden’s green push has led his government, among other things, to prioritize renewable energy projects, order a break and review of all state oil and gas drilling and, among other things, urge that fossil fuel subsidies be abolished.

Republicans and the fossil fuel industry have warned that the president’s vision threatens America’s energy independence and strategic position as the world’s largest oil-producing nation – achieved thanks to the explosion of shale production over the past decade.

“The United States only became a critical point in oil production two or three years ago – now even more important than Saudi Arabia,” said Morawiecki News week in the interview, a full copy of which will be published.

“And I very much prefer to be under such a roof, which is good for the US and good for the whole world – it’s good for the democratic planet not to be in the hands of the Russians, OPEC and Arab producers .

“By withholding this instrument from America, I think that we in the transatlantic community will be collectively weakened because the dictators and autocratic regimes, like many in the Middle East and the Russians and a few others, will dictate prices.

“And they will have more money for terrorist activities in the Muslim world, they will have more money for more aggressive military policy and we will pay more. So our economic growth will be weakened.

“We pay close attention to all changes and developments and are very concerned about these changes.”

Morawiecki’s conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been pushing for closer ties with the United States, especially during the tenure of former President Donald Trump. The Polish government has repeatedly warned of the danger posed by Russia, arguing that President Vladimir Putin is trying to restore a larger Russian empire.

PiS and Morawiecki were themselves accused by their opponents of dragging Poland into authoritarianism, underpinned by anti-democratic, homophobic, sexist and xenophobic rhetoric to mobilize voters and undermine opponents.

Violent protests rocked the country earlier this year as protesters marched against a controversial new anti-abortion law that would ban such practices unless it involves rape or incest, or when pregnancy threatens the mother’s life.

Critics from home and abroad have been particularly concerned about the government’s judicial reforms, which opponents describe as an attack on the country’s independent legal system. Poland and the EU do not agree on the changes.

During the October election campaign, Biden placed Poland alongside nations like Belarus and Hungary in his condemnation of “totalitarian regimes” supported by the Trump administration.

But despite all the criticism, the PiS has retained strong domestic support, especially in rural areas. The party has also been strengthened by years of economic growth, and Poland is now closing the gap to its Western European colleagues who joined the EU in 2004.

Like most other nations, the country has been set back by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Morawiecki believes that his government’s “Polish Deal” – lower taxes for middle and low income earners combined with substantial investment – will enable an economic “rebirth”.

“But we are now focusing on the third decade of the 21st century, catching up with Western Europe in terms of living standards – and in many cases overtaking it,” he said.

Trump’s democratic opponents condemned the former president for four years for his perceived proximity to the Kremlin and his apparent failure to hold Putin back. Biden’s campaign focused on this, pledging to be tougher on Moscow than Trump.

Since taking office, Biden has publicly criticized Putin, throwing his weight behind Kremlin critics, attempting to undermine Moscow’s allies in Belarus, and imposing new sanctions in response to Russian covert operations against dissidents and Moscow’s cyberattacks on US companies and institutions.

But Russia skeptics have criticized Biden for refusing to do more to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a multi-billion dollar project linking Russia with Germany to transfer Russian natural gas directly to Europe to enable.

The project is a boon for Europeans looking for cheap energy, but it also gives Moscow more leverage over the continent’s power supply; a worrying vulnerability for the US and some of its NATO counterparts.

The White House has called the project a “Kremlin geopolitical project threatening European energy security,” but the president has refused to impose US sanctions on the company that builds it.

Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Monday that the completion of Nord Stream 2 was a “fait accompli”.

He added, “I think we have an opportunity to turn a bad hand we inherited when we took office into something positive,” and suggested that the US would act if Russia tried to consider gas supplies Use weapon.

“We in Poland are very disappointed with the recent change in position, particularly in the United States, because over the past few years we have worked hand in hand with the US administration to stop or slow the US government.” Development of Nord Stream 2, “said Morawiecki News week.

“And only recently, the American government changed its mind, in the false hope that it would help fix US-European Union relations.

“Well, Germany is not the European Union. Germany is Germany, and they have their own interests, and it has happened that their interests pretty much coincide and are on the same side with Russian interests.

“But that does not correspond to the transatlantic interests. In this respect, Germany is on a collision course with the transatlantic strategy as far as its own energy interests are concerned.”

He added, “I’m not just referring to imports of American gas … that’s not really the primary meaning here.”

Morawiecki suggested that Russia, not Germany or Europe, would benefit most.

“Most importantly, by stopping Nord Stream 2 we were trying not to help the Russians amass funds for their military development and aggressive policies,” he said.

“And that was quite successful until recently. So such a change was very disappointing, not only for Poland, but for many European countries.”

When asked whether the Polish government had raised these concerns directly to the White House, Morawiecki replied: “Yes. We have expressed our disappointment in public.”

The pipeline could also exacerbate the crisis in Ukraine, said Morawiecki, where Kiev remains caught in a simmering conflict with pro-Moscow fighters in the east of the country. After the annexation of the peninsula by the Kremlin in 2014, Crimea is also firmly in Russian hands.

Ukraine is still a transit country for Russian gas en route to Europe, a status that Germany announced this week that it will have to maintain even after Nord Stream 2 is completed. But Morawiecki suggested that Moscow could take advantage of the situation to further isolate Kiev.

“Russia will have a strong instrument in hand to further split transatlantic interests and to use its weapons openly and covertly against Ukraine and Belarus,” said the Prime Minister.

“Nothing will stop them from going deeper into Ukraine because their gas pipeline system – I mean the Ukrainian one – will be obsolete soon after the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is fully constructed and fully operational.”

Poland is pushing its own energy strategy to escape what Morawiecki called Russia’s “gun on the head”.

The country is investing in new natural gas terminals in the Baltic Sea, a floating terminal in front of the port city of Gdansk and a new pipeline via Denmark to the Norwegian shelf.

Morawiecki said all of these projects will enable the government to meet growing gas demand in Poland, which is expected to rise from just under 20 billion cubic meters per year to around 27 cubic meters by 2028. The new capacity will be “more than sufficient for Poland”, said the Prime Minister.

The Polish head of state acknowledged concern about “the problems arising from the suspension of the construction of the Baltic Pipe on the Danish part of the gas pipeline†but added: “I hope these are temporary difficulties that we have for Europe’s energy security will overcome. “

He continued, “So, in our view, for the first time in our history we will be independent from Russian blackmail, and that weapon on our head no longer exists in terms of price pressures or threats to shut off gas at each entry point Poland.

“It’s not just about the security of gas supplies to Poland – it’s about a lot more. It is about the integration and common strategy of the transatlantic community towards Russia.

“And this has been called into question by the 180 degree policy change that has just been made by the American government.”