Sikorski told lawmakers that the United States was changing and that Poland must acknowledge that shift.
"America is changing. We can either recognise the facts and prepare accordingly, or cover our eyes and ears," he said as he outlined the government's foreign policy plans for the months ahead.
Sikorski said in his address that President Donald Trump's administration in Washington faced new challenges, with priorities focused on defending its own territory, the Western Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific region.
Europe, he said, has moved lower on the list, while Russia is viewed primarily as a regional threat and a potential partner for an economic reset.
“We read about this in American strategic documents and hear it in conversations,” Sikorski said.
He told MPs that he appreciated the "openness and directness of the US administration" and reflected that Western Europe has benefited for too long from a "peace dividend."
He agreed with arguments on the other side of the Atlantic that Europe should take greater responsibility for its own security.
“As a populous and wealthy continent, we are capable of doing so,” he said, adding that Europe does not need armed forces equal to those of the United States, only forces "strong enough" to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said Poland views ongoing changes in the United States “with understanding, but also with concern.”
Sikorski recalled past US support for Poland from presidents such as Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan during Poland’s struggles for independence and against communist rule.
But he also invoked the 1945 Yalta Conference, when US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sought Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s help in the war against Japan following the defeat of Nazi Germany.
“He obtained it, but at the cost of freedom for this part of Europe,” Sikorski said. “The American national interest was realized. We paid the price.”
He said the lesson should give pause to those who favour international relations based solely on a narrow pursuit of national interests.
Referring to a recent United Nations vote on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Sikorski noted that the United States, like China, abstained.
“If we replace Japan in 1945 with today’s China, can we be certain that the interests of the United States will always be identical to Poland’s?” he asked.
“We have been and will remain a loyal ally of America, but we cannot be suckers," Sikorski said.
(gs)
Source: TVP Info, IAR, PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Michał Owczarek.