Macron's Important Visit to Warsaw

After a long hiatus, the heads of state of Poland and France will finally meet February 3-4 during French President Emmanuel Macron’s first visit to Warsaw. The two countries’ last high-level summit occurred in 2015, when President Andrzej Duda of Poland enjoyed a cordial visit to Paris with then-President François Hollande. During that meeting, both men expressed solidarity in opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the long delay since that encounter reflects how the bilateral relationship has soured since Macron came to power in 2017, including Macron’s dissatisfaction with the governance of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), his support of EU sanctions on Warsaw, and more recently, his encouragement of French climate protesters to demonstrate in Poland.