The Polish political landscape has evolved through a number of changes in the past year, following several years of political conflict in respect of traditional conservative positions and authoritarian practices.

The New Polish Government

The Law and Justice Party, the ruling party during this period, were challenged by a coalition of parties headed by Donald Tusk in the 2023 parliamentary elections. The Civic Coalition Party, a coalition of Poland’s Third Way, The New Left party and Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party, were successful and formed a new government in December 2023.

Donald Tusk was active in Polish domestic politics in the 1980’s and 1990’s, although stepped back from his involvement in domestic politics in 2014.

Appointed as president of the European Council between 2014 and 2019, Donald Tusk returned to Polish domestic politics in 2021.

Donald Tusk’s subsequent success in the 2023 elections was a significant moment for Poland, heralding a reboot of Polish domestic and international policies, under this new prime minister.

Donald Tusk undertook to address complaints about the previous government’s authoritarian practices, undue influence over the judiciary and the media, as well as corruption and cronyism.

Ties with the New Polish Government and the United States of America

Although there was a focus on restoring good relations with their European partners, the new Polish government were equally aware of their international relationships, especially with the United States.

Geographically, Poland’s proximity to Ukraine, Russia, and other east European countries, has thrust Poland into the international spotlight, especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

This has naturally brought the new Polish government into a closer relationship with other world leaders including those of United States.

Amongst other nations, there are some 10,000 transitory American troops and critical defense systems stationed in Poland. There are substantial security and commercial interests between Poland and the Unites States, and ties are expected to remain exceptionally strong.

In this regard, Poland has announced the establishment of the first ever permanent US military base in Poland. Warsaw has also signed procurement agreements reflecting billions of dollars of contracts to purchase military hardware from the United States.

The United States is also a major partner in supporting the Polish government’s plans to build Poland’s first nuclear power plants.

Connection to the Marriott Criminal Investigation

Whilst maintaining good political relations with their American partners, Poland has strong commercial and economic ties with the United States.

Poland is the United States’ 40th largest trade partner and mutual investments play an important role in Poland-United States bilateral relations.

Amongst the American companies operating in Poland, Marriott International represents one of the largest US organizations active in the Polish market.

Marriott are one of the world’s largest hotel chains and operate in some of the major Polish cities including Gdansk, Krakow and Warsaw.

The criminal investigation into Marriott began in Poland, followed legal proceeding issued against Marriott by a Polish led consortium, namely the Lim Company. The legal proceedings resulted from a disagreement between the partnership of Marriott International and the Lim Company during the initial COVID lockdown period.

A request from Lim to Marriott to close the Marriott Warsaw during COVID was refused by Marriott. This refusal led to proceedings being issued against Marriott, and the charges which subsequently arose included matters of financial, operational, trust and transparency.

The new government in Poland headed by Donald Tusk has placed great emphasis on addressing the criticisms of the previous Polish government. Key issues such as corruption, cronyism, media mis-management had long affected the reputation of Poland.

Poland’s new government was elected following an undertaking by Donald Tusk to repair Poland’s damaged reputation, and to tackle corruption affecting the Polish economy. It can be expected that this will include the criminal investigations that Marriott faces in Poland.

Marriott International are a substantial US based corporate institution, with world-wide commercial interests. With over 400,000 employees, revenues of nearly $24 billion and a publicly quoted stock market listing, Marriott is a valuable, well-respected American company.

The legal issues Marriott currently faces, which have become a criminal investigation, could become extremely problematic for Marriott. The charges will be enthusiastically supported by the new Polish government in order to fulfil their election promises to tackle corruption and financial mis-management.

There could be substantial financial, legal and reputational costs for Marriott, which could be extremely harmful to Marriott International.

The range of commercial and political ties between Poland and the United States are extensive and, as the legal process unfolds, the criminal investigation into Marriott could bring the Polish government into conflict with their American counterparts.

It can be expected that the United States will protect its own corporate institutions creating a direct causal connection between the respective governments, and ramifications of the criminal investigations into Marriott.

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