US President Barack Obama landed in Warsaw yesterday on the final leg of his European tour, to meet leaders from ex-communist states whose own reforms could hold lessons for the Arab Spring.
Air Force One landed at the Polish capital’s Chopin Airport around 1530 GMT, according to an AFP journalist on board.
The US leader is due to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and pay homage to Holocaust victims at a monument dedicated to the wartime Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, before attending a working dinner at a regional Presidents’ summit. Lech Walesa, Poland’s Solidarity-era leader, ex-President and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner said yesterday he would not accept an invitation to meet fellow Nobel winner US President Barack Obama.
“I expect this meeting would only amount to a photo opportunity,” Mr Walesa said. He underlined that he would be flying to Italy today in line with earlier plans and that he wished Mr Obama “very well”.
According to sources close to Mr Walesa, Poland’s President in 1990-1995, he had expected a personal invitation from Mr Obama, who himself won the Nobel Peace in 2009 shortly after taking office.