Mitt Romney will wrap up his three-country tour with a speech in Warsaw today — an address that could pay dividends in key swing states back home.
By Charles Dharapak, AP
Mitt Romney meets with former Polish president Lech Walesa in Gdansk, Poland, on Monday.
The Republican presidential contender will speak on U.S.-Poland ties and "values of liberty" at the University of Warsaw and will focus on the historic alliance between the two countries, shared values and geopolitical challenges, the Romney campaign says.
Romney is also scheduled to meet with Poland's foreign minister and visit several Polish war monuments.
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Republicans have been critical of President Obama's 2009 reversal of a George W. Bush administration decision to develop a missile-defense system in Poland.
Like his address Sunday in Israel, Romney is unlikely to criticize Obama directly but instead will use the trip to show his commitment to a nation that has had a chilly relationship with the current administration.
Victor Ashe, former ambassador to Poland, said the perception among Poles is that the Obama administration has been trying to improve the U.S. relationship with Russia at their expense. This has shifted the relationship between the United States and Poland to more of a business relationship rather than a warm friendship, he said.
"Relations today are better than they were when the missile-defense issue was changed, but I don't think they are where they were with President (George W.) Bush," said Ashe, who served as ambassador from 2004 to 2009.
Romney's visit to Poland could have an impact well beyond Eastern Europe because a large portion of the Polish-American community resides in critical swing states — especially Pennsylvania and Michigan, according to a 2010 survey of Polish-Americans by the Piast Institute.
Thaddeus Radzilowski, president of the Piast Institute, said Polish-Americans will be listening for Romney to pledge his support to help Poland gain access to the visa-waiver program, which allows travelers from 36 countries to fly to the U.S. without applying for a travel documents ahead of time.
During his trip to Poland in 2011, Obama expressed his support for legislation to help Poland qualify for the program.
"If (Romney) commits very strongly to that, he would probably sway a number of people who might be on the margin," Radzilowski said, noting that 33% of Polish-American voters are political independents. "There is a real feeling that Obama's foreign policy has not been very favorable to Poland, and in some cases (Obama) has treated the Poles rather cavalierly."
In June, the president apologized to Poland for referring to a World War II-era "Polish death camp" when awarding a Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a member of the Polish resistance during World War II who crossed enemy lines and told Western governments about Nazi atrocities against Jews.
On Monday, Romney received a warm welcome from former Polish president Lech Walesa, who virtually endorsed the presumptive Republican nominee during a meeting in Gdansk. Walesa refused to meet with Obama when he traveled to Poland last year.
"I wish you to be successful because this success is needed to the United States, of course, but to Europe and the rest of the world, too. Gov. Romney, get your success, be successful," Walesa said, according to translation of his remarks by an interpreter that was reported by ABC News.
Walesa, a former shipyard worker, helped found the Solidarity movement that helped topple communism in Poland. Romney is visiting Poland at Walesa's invitation.
