00:08Dzień dobry, nazywam się Mateusz Jaroński, a to jest program 12 Minut w Euronews.
00:13Znajdujemy się w Katowicach na Europejskim Kongresie Gospodarczym.
00:17Państwa i moim gościem jest były ambasador Stanów Zjednoczonych w Polsce, pan Mark Brzeziński.
00:22Your Excellency, thank you very much for joining us today.
00:24Mateusz, it is great to be here.
00:26Dziękuję za zaproszenie, thank you for the invitation.
00:30To be here in Katowice at the EEC conference is just terrific.
00:35Poland attracts many investors from around the globe, including the United States of America.
00:40Why is that? What makes Poland so attractive?
00:43Several things, especially now.
00:46One, Poland now is a country where there are billionaire companies and billionaire individuals.
00:52It is no longer just a poor country that has to look to others to pay for things.
00:57Two, you have a workforce here that's technically very talented, very sophisticated, and has proven itself in changing circumstances.
01:07Three, the country has shown real reactive mobilization in the face of danger.
01:14There's a war right next door in Ukraine.
01:16And yet the country is stable and secure and prosperous.
01:20The country just revised its growth rate for 2026 by several points, because the expectations for growth are so big.
01:31I am terribly optimistic about the future of Poland.
01:34How has the relationship between the United States and Poland changed throughout the years?
01:41You was the ambassador, the U.S. ambassador here in Poland.
01:44So from your perspective, how did it change?
01:46Sure.
01:47Well, relationships are based on values, not just the politics of the day.
01:52Of course, presidential administrations change.
01:55President Biden's administration is different from President Trump's administration.
01:59The priorities are very, very different.
02:02At the same time, the values of the American people are consistent.
02:06The values of democracy, values of freedom, the values of a free market, the values of capitalism,
02:13those are consistent regardless of ideology of the American president.
02:18And in terms of like a sector, investment sector, what is the most attractive investing sector for American people here
02:27in Poland?
02:28Poland's economy is red hot.
02:30Defense technology, energy, health care, preparing for the rebuilding of Ukraine, technology, logistics, supply chain.
02:40These are all areas I see investors taking a very close look at Poland from around the world.
02:47It's in those and other areas.
02:49And just take defense technology.
02:52Poland is on a $140 billion military modernization.
02:58$140 billion military modernization.
03:01And you now have defense technology companies here from around the world.
03:06And the polls are clear.
03:08They expect that when they buy defense technology and do acquisitions in procurement,
03:13they expect assembly, design and engineering to occur in Poland.
03:19And why is that a good thing?
03:21Because you probably can engineer, design and assemble equipment more cheaply here than in many places of the world.
03:28And so, for example, in that area, there's tremendous modernization and as a result, tremendous business opportunity.
03:34You said very key point, like the United States invests here in defense.
03:41Because when we think about defense, we also think about the American troops here in Europe and eastern flank.
03:46Donald Trump is planning to withdraw some troops from Germany and or Spain.
03:51What do you think about this?
03:52Look, Mateusz, President Trump will make decisions based on his priorities.
03:57I will report to you what I said to the Trump transition, which is the American, the presence of American
04:04troops in Poland served as a real deterrent against Putin and against Russia.
04:11Let's be very clear about something.
04:14Putin is a KGB agent who is the son of a KGB agent.
04:18In the mind of Putin, what the Poles are doing, supplying lethal and non-lethal assistance to the Ukrainians so
04:26they can defend themselves against the Russians, in the mind of Putin, that is treason.
04:31Poland is a Slavic country.
04:32Ukraine is a Slavic country.
04:34Russia is a Slavic country.
04:35And so Poland truly is at risk from Putin.
04:40The presence of American troops serves as a tremendous deterrent.
04:44When I was United States ambassador in Poland, just after the Ukraine-Russia war broke out, President Biden deployed thousands
04:54of American soldiers to Poland.
04:56Ultimately, we reached 13,500 U.S. troops in Poland, a record.
05:02We also opened the very first permanent U.S. military facility, the U.S. Army Forward Command Headquarters in Poznan,
05:11Poland,
05:12which also clearly served as a deterrent.
05:16And the Russians stayed away.
05:18And that is the first time in history, the first time, Mateusz, in history, the Russians have stayed away from
05:26Poland when they did an attack on Central and Eastern Europe.
05:29That's remarkable.
05:30And that should be taken on board by everyone.
05:32How has the war in Ukraine changed the point of view of many American investors?
05:38Poland's defense technology industry is red hot precisely because of the Ukraine war.
05:46Many of the new tactics and technologies being deployed on the Ukraine border, there's an understanding of those in Poland.
05:54In fact, there's a lot of cross-border traffic as it pertains to defense technology.
06:00Defense companies from around the world want to share in and join in the development of those technologies.
06:07So we see tremendous investment in the West, in Poland, to fully maximize the potential of technologies that were originally
06:16developed on the Ukraine battlefield to defend against Russia.
06:20And that's kind of the secret sauce in Poland.
06:23Poland is a place where those defense technologies initiated in Ukraine can be fully maximized, engineered and designed to their
06:31fullest potential and then deployed elsewhere around the world.
06:35You see Middle Eastern countries, Arab countries in Poland right now exploring defense technologies that were deployed on the Ukraine
06:44battlefield.
06:45So just by way of an example, the defense technology area is booming in Poland.
06:50But it's not just defense technology.
06:52Take energy.
06:53Poland is going through a nuclear renaissance right now.
06:56When I was ambassador, I brokered the very first civil nuclear power plant in Poland, the Westinghouse-Bectel power plant
07:02that is being built in northern Poland in Pomerania, a $30 billion deal.
07:07In 2022, that Westinghouse-Bectel deal was the single largest transaction supported by any U.S. embassy anywhere in the
07:19world that year.
07:21There's now a proliferation of initiatives to expand the civil nuclear power plant in Poland, including with other large reactors
07:31like the AP-1000 of Westinghouse and Bechtel, but also SMRs, small modular reactors.
07:37And we, the Americans, see no tension between large reactors and small reactors.
07:43Poland's energy needs are so vast and so, so deep.
07:48And the aspirations of Polish young people economically are such that a big build-out of energy production and supply
07:58needs to be done in Poland.
07:59And companies are responding in turn.
08:01You see it in the tech world, also, a proliferation of Western companies coming here to fully exploit the innovative
08:09ecosystem here in Poland.
08:11This is the land of great science and physics and mathematics.
08:16This is the land of Nicholas Copernicus and Marie Curie Skudowski.
08:21Tech companies know of the innovative potential of the Polish people.
08:26That's why Google, Microsoft, others have innovation centers in Poland.
08:32Incredible. Amazing.
08:33And how might the model of transatlantic cooperation between the United States and maybe not only about Poland, but Europe
08:41evolve in the couple of years?
08:45It depends a lot on how the West responds to the crisis in Ukraine.
08:51My hope is that the West is able to develop a unity of purpose and a shared definition of the
08:56threat in Ukraine and come up with a plan to help the Ukrainians defend themselves and then ultimately a plan
09:02to fully maximize a ceasefire into rebuilding of Ukraine.
09:07There is also the potential of Ukraine becoming a failed state in the heart of Europe.
09:11And think about that, Mateusz, a country of 45 million people, Ukraine, in the heart of Europe as a failed
09:18state.
09:18The suction effect that would have on 14 countries in Europe is, frankly, difficult to comprehend, but not impossible.
09:27When the war ends in the Ukraine, is there any sort of strategy or plan from the United States government
09:36to help rebuilding the Ukrainian economy and the whole country?
09:42Well, I can tell you that in the Biden administration, top officials were placed in charge of thinking through and
09:49in a very detailed way beginning to plan for the rebuilding of Ukraine.
09:55We had a former secretary of commerce, Penny Pritzker, who is a kind of name famous in American business.
10:02The Pritzker family was put in charge of planning for Ukraine rebuilding.
10:05And then our deputy secretary of state, Rich Verma, took over after her.
10:10I am less familiar of what the Trump administration is doing.
10:13I'm assuming that they're engaged in planning for the rebuilding of Ukraine.
10:17Importantly, in Poland in June, June 25th and 26th, the big annual Ukraine recovery conference will be held in Gdansk,
10:27Poland.
10:27Different countries have hosted this conference over the last couple of years.
10:30Italy last year, Germany the year before, London before that.
10:34Poland hosts it this year.
10:35I would love it to be the case that that Ukraine recovery conference occurred when a ceasefire is being put
10:42in place.
10:43So that conference could actually be a donors conference and the beginning of a rebuilding conference in terms of its
10:49tactical implementation.
10:50I'm not sure it will be because I think Putin thinks that time is on his side.
10:54And my final question is Poland joined G20.
10:57What do you feel about this?
10:58I think as an American with Polish background, I feel such tremendous pride in what the Polish people have built
11:07in this country.
11:08And that is a land of infinitely greater opportunity for the next generation than for previous generations.
11:14And I think it's fantastic that President Nawrotzki is taking a delegation, a big delegation of Polish business with him
11:22to the G20 in Miami in December to showcase Polish business and to kind of show the world this is
11:29the innovative ecosystem in Poland.
11:31This is how people are making money in Poland.
11:33This is how Poland is a prosperous country.
11:35And we want the world to share in and join in that.
11:38Your Excellency, thank you so much.
11:40Thank you, Mateusz.
11:41Thank you.
11:41Thank you.
11:42Thank you.
11:42Thank you.
Comments