Mr. Bogdan Klich, the Head of Mission in the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, was invited to speak for the Hipp Lecture Series at Wofford College on April 8. Klich plays a proactive role in advocating Poland’s perspective in the United States.
Klich articulated that both Poland and the United States belong to this collective west, in which multiple countries share values of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. He emphasizes that these ideals are foundational to NATO.
“It is crucial for the Polish government to maintain the current role of the alliance,” Klich said. “As the head of mission here in the United States, I devote a lot of my time to discussing that issue with the National Security Council and with the State Department.”
Moreover, Klich is satisfied with the United States’ shared protection and preservation of NATO. During the Madrid Summit, a threat assessment was conducted for the alliance, which found that the most direct and main threat to the stability of NATO is Russia.
There are currently about 10,000 American soldiers deployed on Polish soil. Klich reinforced the importance of American defense support when meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Klich addressed the media’s dissemination of false information pertaining to the deployment of American troops, because they are a crucial aspect of NATO as a defense alliance.
“If you hear any rumors about the withdrawal of American troops from Poland, I can say that these are misleading information – that these are fake news,” Klich said. “American troops were moved from one place to another on the territory of Poland because it is NATO that takes over command over the logistics and the main hub transferring weaponry to Ukraine in the southeastern part of Poland.”
Klich spoke about Poland’s three crucial areas of focus pertaining to NATO. The first is the implementation of agreements for a defense plan made at the Madrid Summit.
Additionally, Poland is focused on a new model of rapid force reaction, which allows for an efficient response while allowing the time for forces to be well-trained and prepared. The final area of focus is a new concept of deterrence by denial. This idea is deterring potential adversaries by denying their objectives.
“I’m speaking only about those three issues but I’m talking about the political unity to implement decisions,” Klich said.
Following the second Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland and many other European allies looked elsewhere for their gas imports. The United States is significant in Poland’s current imports of LNG. This not only enhances Poland’s energy security, but it also strengthens the United States and Poland’s economic ties, while reducing Poland’s reliance on Russia. Poland’s economic ties with the United States remain strong not only in energy but also in weaponry.
“I can confirm that the Polish government decided to sign a lot of agreements, and we are the biggest customer of the American defense industry in the alliance,” Klich said. “We spent around more than 50 billion US dollars here to acquire new technologies, new equipment, weaponry and sophisticated systems.”
Poland places a huge emphasis on defense, which is evident in the fact that it contributes the largest amount of their GDP to defense. Last year, Poland spent 4.1% of their GDP on defense, and this year they are prepared to spend 4.7% of their GDP. Klich acknowledges the large effort of taxpayers and the economy, but stresses the importance of this spending.
“We face the imminent and immediate and direct threat that is Russia, that’s why we know that it is necessary to improve our capabilities on the ground,” Klich said.
It is important to note that Mr. Bogdan Klich’s visit occurred after President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs were enacted on April 2, or Liberation Day. Furthermore, the 90-day suspension of these tariffs occurred the day after his visit to Wofford College. This unique window provided insight into the international reaction and concern for economic and trade relations following President Trump’s trade war.
“There were attempts from the European side to consult those American decisions before they were implemented, and we are ready to do so, also in the future,” Klich said.
A large area of concern Klich mentioned for Poland and others in the European Union was the tariffs that specifically referred to an increase in taxes on aluminum, steel and car production. Poland relies heavily on the United States as a trusted trade partner, so Poland sought to achieve the prior trade agreements with the United States.
“The European Commission will react on the 9th of April, and it will be a politically united reaction,” Klich said. “After this reaction, we’ll still be ready to discuss with our hosts here, the American administration, the potential compromise concerning this large set of 20% tariffs that were declared by the president of the United States recently.”
