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Ex-diplomats Urge Trump to Pressure Poland on Rule of Law

Associated Press

   WARSAW, POLAND - Almost two dozen Polish former ambassadors are telling
   U.S. President Donald Trump that Poland's democracy is at risk, and
   urging him to use an upcoming visit to pressure the country's populist
   government to respect human rights and stop flouting the constitution.

   "Mr. President, you are coming to a country where the rule of law is no
   longer respected," the Conference of Ambassadors of the Republic of
   Poland wrote in an open letter posted on its website late Monday.

   Trump is to arrive Saturday in Warsaw to attend ceremonies Sunday
   marking the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, which began
   with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. More than 40
   other world leaders will also attend.

   The 23 former ambassadors, some of whom have had multiple postings
   abroad and also held government positions at home, are also urging
   Trump to stop sowing divisions within the European Union and NATO,
   reminding him that Poland -- a country in a difficult geographic
   position -- depends on those alliances for its security and long-term
   survival.

   "An isolated Poland, surrounded by enemies, conflicted with its
   neighbors and, as was the case before World War II, reliant solely on
   geographically distant alliances, is on course to another catastrophe,"
   they say.

   Several critics hit back at the ex-diplomats, depicting them as
   frustrated former elites who cannot accept their loss of privilege and
   are disloyal to the nation.

   One commentator, sociologist and diplomat Ryszard Zoltaniecki, told the
   right-wing news portal wPolityce that "they cannot accept the fact that
   other, new people have the right to create Polish foreign policy" and
   that they "slander Poland in the international arena."

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