Washington, the PiS and EU Climate Targets

https://www.politico.eu/article/new-yorks-lackluster-climate-summit/

Leaving aside all the silliness surrounding the deranged Swedish teenage activist and her 'glaring' at Trump, the real story in this article pertains to French president Macron's condemnation of Poland's PiS government for inhibiting the EU's climate goals.

PiS of course denies this but in another sense it's to be expected because we should expect nationalism to override international concerns and obligations. That's what happens when nationalism is empowered and applied.

But it's also noteworthy because this is yet another case of a V4 nation generating grief for Brussels. In a previous article I talked about how the V4 (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia) had the potential to serve US interests and would become more prominent in the wake of Brexit and the loss of Washington's London proxy.

While the V4 nations will never enjoy the tight 'special relationship' shared by the Anglo-American sphere and the Five Eyes (US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) nations, they nevertheless share some important common interests with Washington and given their position are keen to have a powerful patron. On the one hand some of the V4 nations see Russia as a problem and find solace in the Brussels relationships (EU and NATO). And yet some of them see Brussels as the more day-to-day threat and thus a Unipolar Trans-Atlantic United States proves a convenient friend that can offset the influence and threats coming from both East and West, from both Moscow and Brussels.

But that friendship comes with a price and certain obligations. In this case Poland is doing its part and it's probably happy to do it, as such a move is in line with its own interests. You can be sure that people in Pompeo's State Department and the White House NSC have taken note of Macron's ire... and my guess is that Duda, Kaczynski or both will receive encouraging phone calls if they haven't already.