Poland took the geopolitical spotlight Dec. 6 as Russian President Dmitri Medvedev was in Warsaw for an official two-day state visit while the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was in Berlin for the 10th Polish-German intergovernmental consultations. In Warsaw, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said at a press conference with Medvedev that Poland would act as a bridge for improved Russian relations with the European Union and NATO. In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel threw Germany's support behind the Polish diplomatic initiative known as the Eastern Partnership intended to improve relations with former Soviet republics in Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Poland is trying to balance the task of improving relations with Moscow and Berlin against maintaining close relations with the United States (Komorowski flies to Washington for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama immediately after his talks with Medvedev) and its own initiative to push back the Russian sphere of influence with the Eastern Partnership. Whether Warsaw can continue its foreign policy balancing act remains to be seen. If it pushes too ambitiously with Eastern Partnership in what Moscow considers its sphere of influence, it may trigger a Russian reaction and German annoyance. How active Poland is in Eastern Europe probably will depend on how much help Washington is willing to provide. We expect Poland to be at the center of activity in the European Union during 2011, the second half of which it will hold the EU presidency.
