Carmen Valero Berlin

Berlin

Updated Thursday, February 8, 2024-13:21

The failure of the bill for additional aid to Ukraine in the US Senate has raised blisters in

Poland

, one of the European Union countries that, regardless of the color of its government,

has shown the most solidarity with Kiev

since the Russian invasion. That is why the new Polish prime minister and former president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has called the Republican blockade of new aid a "shame."

"Dear Republican senators of the United States.

Ronald Reagan

, who helped millions of us regain our freedom and independence,

must be turning in his grave today

. You should be ashamed," Tusk wrote on the social network X in reference to the 40th president American member of the Republican Party, who died in 2004.

In a vote held on Wednesday in the House of Representatives, Republicans prevented the bill presented by US President Joe Biden's Democrats to provide Ukraine with an aid package from going forward. The Republican blockade was a chronicle announced

after the call against

this new package made to his people by the former US president and foreseeable Republican candidate for the fall elections,

Donald Trump

.

Although the majority in the Republican party is in favor of aid and the package also included benefits to Israel and measures to strengthen the fight against immigration across the border with Mexico, Trump does not want to give up the arsenal that he is preparing in his electoral campaign. .

Allusion to the Cold War

Reagan (1911-2004) was president of the United States between 1981 and 1989 and contributed decisively to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union with his then-controversial rearmament policy and his anti-communist stance. In Poland, the republican, although rejected as a "cold warrior" in many Western societies, has many admirers. There is even a monument in his honor in Warsaw.

American aid to Ukraine is vital and Poland, as Kiev's main ally, has announced that

Foreign Minister

Radoslaw Sikorski

will soon travel to Washington

to request approval of the aid package for Ukraine.

Sikorski, who has not set a date for that trip, has announced that during his stay in the US capital he will work to convince "US legislators that Ukraine offers the United States certain benefits", such as keeping alive "the entire American system of alliances." , both in Europe and Asia".

"American credibility depends on Ukraine not losing this war

," stressed Sikorski, who recalled that, to a large extent, American support for Ukraine is to its own benefit, because much of the weapons sent to Kiev are purchased from companies. Americans.

"Poland alone has already ordered equipment from the US worth 50 billion dollars," the Polish minister emphasized. "And the same thing happens throughout Europe," he added.

The head of Polish diplomacy has called on the United States Congress to

finally approve the more than 60 billion dollars

in assistance that the White House has urgently requested for Ukraine, once the

European Union has agreed on its

of 50,000 million euros

until 2027.

The minister recalled that "currently Europe provides more aid to Ukraine than the United States", while within the EU Poland is the leading country. "In absolute terms, Germany is giving a lot of money to Ukraine but in proportion to GDP Poland is ahead, especially if we take into account the maintenance of the exchange rate of the hryvnia (Ukrainian currency) in the National Bank of Poland or the assistance to refugees," he said.

According to the Polish authorities, since the beginning of the war almost two years ago,

approximately

1.3 million Ukrainian refugees

, most of them

women and minors ,

have settled in Poland

, and in addition to housing aid and subsidies they are provided access to all public health and education services and to the labor market.