On his European trip, Jeb Bush has already met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but his most interesting meeting may be with the Radoslaw Sikorski, who resigned his speakership atop the Polish parliament Wednesday, one year after he compared Poland’s subservience to the U.S. to providing oral sex.
Bush said Thursday that meeting with Sikorski, who has strong ties to the west, was “appropriate”, and aides said that it had been long planned. Asked by CNN of Sikurski’s blastng of the U.S., Bush said he was “surprised”, but believed Sikurski was still a strong ally.
“Maybe there’s a degree of frustration that over the last few years we’ve kind of changed course as it relates to the deployment of the missile system, for example,” Bush said, referencing the missile “defense shield” that had been planned for Eastern Europe, but was scrapped by the Obama Administration. “So perhaps he was expressing frustration.”
The clandestine eavesdropping scandal has claimed resignations from multiple leaders from Poland’s ruling party.
“Waitergate” captured Sikorski, who was foreign minister at the time, dubbing Poland’s relationship with the U.S. “worthless”, calling British Prime Minister David Cameron “incompetent” and making other nasty remarks over high-priced meals, according to the Washington Post.
Who exactly placed the hidden microphones remains a key question in the scandal.
Sikorski, Poland’s former Foreign Minister, is a well known figure in the west. He studied in England and even married an American newspaper reporter.
The timing is somewhat awkward for Bush, who is in Poland trying to play up ties between the two nations and his own hawkish foreign policy stances, just a few days before he announces his presidential bid.