Obama: US Solidarity with Europe Depends on Our People

Former US President Barack Obama said on Thursday at the Impact congress in Poznań that US solidarity with Europe depends on people, not a specific administration, noting that Europeans must realise that they cannot "simply count on the US for defence".

Obama also referred to the situation in Poland, assessing that the right approach is one in which "progressive forces" create a broad coalition, trying to understand more conservative communities. "If you want to be effective, you have to listen to the perspectives of others," he said.

In the conversation, led by American historian Professor Timothy Snyder, which concluded the 10th edition of the Poznań Impact Congress, Obama referred to American politics, but did not once mention the incumbent President Donald Trump by name. "I don't think it's a secret that I disagree with some of the decisions that are being made in Washington right now," he stated briefly.

He emphasized that there is one message he would very much like to convey from "this side of the Atlantic." "The basic sense of solidarity that most Americans feel toward Europe is not dependent on our administration, but on our people," he said.

He added that when Americans see the "incredible generosity" that Poland showed to Ukrainians fleeing the war, it gives them hope.

"This moment teaches us one thing, despite everything - that progress in democracy, in human rights (…), all these great things, cannot be the work of the USA alone," the former president said. He added that Europeans must also realize that they cannot "simply count on the USA in terms of defense."

Obama said that the world order that raised us was "forged in the fires of World War II," but that since then the world has become so integrated that the old structures no longer fit. In his opinion, despite the current political situation, the United States still has a role to play in strengthening them.

Referring to the phenomenon of polarization, he considered the ideas of the radical right to be "dangerous", but admitted that mistakes were also made by left-wing and center-left circles, which - as he noted - did not want to compromise. "Many young people (...) think that if someone does not agree with us, they must be a racist, sexist or homophobe. (...) I think that this has pushed some voters to the second camp, because people do not want to be lectured or treated as fools," he noted.

According to Obama, the right approach in this regard was taken by the "center forces" in Poland, which formed a broad electoral coalition in 2023. "I think the progressive forces in Poland were right to try to understand conservative, deeply religious, mostly rural communities. If you want to be effective and build broad coalitions that can then actually push your projects forward, you have to listen to the perspectives of others as well," he emphasized.

The former president stressed that listening to the perspective of the other, even hostile, side is also necessary in the international arena - in this context he mentioned his relations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"I think my vision of the world is better, and his leads to war, brutality and gulags (...) But partly because I listened and understood his perspective, we managed to strike a nuclear deal with Iran that Russia supported, and Putin even agreed to suspend sales of anti-missile defense systems to Iran, which potentially would have provoked action by Israel and triggered a war in the Middle East sooner," he said.

Obama also referred to the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, noting that the Solidarity movement was an inspiration for his belief in the possibility of change. "This is not the first time I have thought that Americans should have been inspired by the outside world, that the struggles that took place here in Central and Eastern Europe inspired America as much as, I hope, some of the struggles of the past that are happening in America," he said.

The meeting with Barack Obama was the highlight of this year's Impact congress, where last year's guest was his wife Michelle Obama. The line to the main hall, where the former US president spoke, started forming three hours before the start of the conversation, and there were no more free seats.

The two-day event organised in Poznań was attended by over 650 guests, including politicians from various countries, media people and representatives of global companies.

The Polish Press Agency was its media patron. (PAP)

sno/ mws/ mal/ mhr/