Obama Is Poland's Only Hope

This July, Warsaw is scheduled to host a special NATO summit. This is not a regular meeting of cabinet defense ministers, but an extraordinary session at which the heads of all member states redefine the alliance’s key strategic missions. Law and Justice sees this high-profile event as a chance to show its domestic backers that it remains a respected player on the international stage, even as it destroys constitutional government at home. Poland has concrete diplomatic goals it hopes to achieve as well: The government will be campaigning for the permanent deployment of NATO troops in the country as a tripwire against the threat of future Russian aggression. The Obama administration should act now to preempt this gambit. It should make it plain that there will be no summit in Warsaw — or at least not one the United States will attend — so long as Poland’s commitment to constitutional democracy remains under investigation by the commission.