Romney wraps up foreign trip
Presumptive nominee stresses Polish, American ties in speech
WARSAW, Poland – Mitt Romney wrapped up a bumpy three-country overseas tour on a high note Tuesday, meeting with Poland’s leaders, being warmly received by large crowds as he visited sacred sites and delivering a lofty speech about the persevering values that unite the nation and the United States.
After days of headlines prompted by gaffes Romney made in England and Israel, the final leg allowed Romney to both highlight foreign policy contrasts with President Barack Obama on issues such as missile defense and to court swing-state voters of Polish descent or the Catholic faith.
Emphasizing the deep ties of friendship between America and Poland and expressing his appreciation to Poland for standing beside the U.S. in conflicts over many generations, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Romney said he was inspired by “the path of freedom tread by the people of Poland.”
“Our nations belong to the great fellowship of democracies. We speak the same language of freedom and justice,” he said in a speech at the library of the University of Warsaw. “I believe it is critical to stand by those who have stood by America. Solidarity was a great movement that freed a nation. And it is with solidarity that America and Poland face the future.”
The three nations that he visited – England, Israel and Poland – were far apart on the map, he said, “but for an American, you can’t get much closer to the ideals and convictions of my own country than you can in these places.”
The two-day visit to Poland was marred Tuesday when a Romney press aide cursed at reporters who shouted questions at Romney as he walked across a plaza to his car after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The aide later apologized.
But it was a far less consequential bit of negative publicity than the gaffes Romney made on the trip – questioning Britain’s preparedness and excitement for the Olympic Games and musing during a fundraiser in Israel about how the economic disparities between neighboring countries, including Israel and the Palestinian areas, show the “power” of “culture.”
Democrats argued that the trip showed Romney was ill-prepared to represent the United States on the international stage.
The Romney campaign insisted that the trip was a success, and that voters at home would not be concerned by any missteps.
Romney made 10 stops in Gdansk and Warsaw over two days. He met with leaders including Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Nobel Prize winner Lech Walesa, who co-founded the Solidarity movement and who snubbed Obama during his 2011 visit to Poland. Romney also visited historic sites such as the Memorial of the Warsaw Uprising and Pilsudskiego Square.