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US ties 'worth nothing'

June 22, 2014

A Polish magazine says it has a recording of the country's foreign minister saying Warsaw's relationship with Washington is worthless. This comes after it released a separate recording that set off a political storm.

https://p.dw.com/p/1CNwR
Außenminister Polen Radek Sikorski in München
Image: Rosalia Romaniec

The weekly magazine Wprost on Sunday published a short transcript of a recorded conversation it says features Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski speaking to then-Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski last year.

"You know that the Polish-American alliance is worth nothing," Sikorski is quoted as saying, before adding that it was "even harmful because it creates a false sense of security."

There has been no official confirmation that it actually is Sikorski on the recording, which the magazine has said it plans to release in audio form on Monday or Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government, Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, said the administration would not comment on the recording until it is published in full.

Previous recording

Wprost set off a political storm last week, when it released a recording of a conversation it said was between central bank boss Marek Belka and Interior Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz. In that recording, the man identified as Belka demands that Rostowski be sacked as finance minister in return for the central bank's help in reducing the national debt.

Both men have said that their words were taken out of context.

The release of that recording led to opposition calls for Prime Minister Tusk and his government to step down. On Thursday, Tusk conceded in a press conference that snap elections may be the only way out of the political crisis.

Conservative leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is expected to hold talks with other oppositions parties on Monday, to discuss the possibility of bringing a no-confidence vote against the Tusk government.

pfd/jm (AP, dpa)