WARSAW, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador in Warsaw cut off contact with Poland's parliament speaker on Thursday, accusing him of insulting Donald Trump after he criticised the president's policies and declined to support his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions.
Ambassador Tom Rose's furious response to Parliament Speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty underlined the precarious balancing act politicians from Poland's pro-European coalition government face in keeping their most important ally onside while Trump is pursuing "America First" policies many of them find unnerving.
The heated exchange on social media platform X drew a reaction from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
"Mr. Ambassador Rose, allies should respect, not lecture, each other. At least this is how we here in Poland understand partnership," Tusk wrote.
The discussion also highlighted divisions between Tusk's government and the much more pro-MAGA nationalist opposition and President Karol Nawrocki.
"The current ruling coalition chose as parliamentary speaker a man who does not understand the importance and significance of alliances," Nawrocki's spokesman Rafal Leskiewicz told PAP news agency.
Czarzasty said on Monday he would not support an initiative put forward by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to rally heads of parliaments to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026 for his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.
TRUMP IS 'DESTABILISING' SITUATION, SAYS CZARZASTY
"In my opinion, President Trump is destabilising the situation in these (international) organisations by representing the politics of force and using force to pursue a transactional policy," Czarzasty, leader of The Left, the junior coalition partner in the government, told journalists.
"All of this means that I will not support President Trump's Nobel Prize nomination because he doesn't deserve it."
Rose lashed out at Czarzasty on Thursday, saying Washington will have no further "dealings, contacts, or communications" with him, effective immediately.
"(Czarzasty's) outrageous and unprovoked insults directed against President Trump has made himself a serious impediment to our excellent relations with Prime Minister Tusk and his government," he wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.
"We will not permit anyone to harm U.S.–Polish relations, nor disrespect (Trump) who has done so much for Poland and the Polish people."
In response, Czarzasty wrote on X that he regretted the ambassador's reaction but would not change his position on fundamental issues.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Alan Charlish, Mark Heinrich and Gareth Jones)
