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'No Trump, Yes Paris': Greenpeace Gives US President Cold Welcome in Poland

Greenpeace protested Donald Trump's arrival in Poland with the message "No Trump, Yes Paris." (Photo: Greenpeace)

'No Trump, Yes Paris': Greenpeace Gives US President Cold Welcome in Poland

Public rebuke in Warsaw foreshadows the mass demonstrations expected in Germany this weekend

Greenpeace welcomed U.S. President Trump to Warsaw Wednesday evening by illuminating the message "No Trump, Yes Paris" on Poland's tallest building, the Palace of Culture and Science.

In a translated statement on Facebook, Greenpeace said:

Welcome President Trump to Poland! On the occasion of his arrival we prepared a special screening at the Palace of Culture :) This is how we protest against the anti-climate policy of the president of the United States and the announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from The Paris Accords.

The president--who is visiting Warsaw ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, this weekend--announced early last month that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. His decision to abandon the agreement has been condemned by world leaders and led U.S. cities and states to commit to upholding it.

"Trump is going to the G20 summit as a politician who has isolated himself from the Paris Agreement," said Pawel Szypulski of Greenpeace Poland. "It is difficult to suppose that during his visit to Warsaw he could find a common language in this matter with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, since all of them have adopted the Paris Agreement and realize that its implementation is in their interest and in the interests of the whole of the European Union."

During his trip to Poland, Trump is attending The Three Seas Initiative summit with a dozen leaders from Central and Eastern European, and meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda. "The leaders will discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues, deepening an alliance based on shared values and common interests," according to a White House statement.

Though Greenpeace's action Wednesday did not include a larger public demonstration--and Warsaw did not anticipate or experience any major demonstrations during Trump's tightly-managed visit--a group of Polish women protesting the U.S. president and their own government's restrictive anti-abortion laws took to the streets for a "Handmaid's Tale" demonstration, similar to events recently organized in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Trump and other world leaders attending the G20 meetings in Germany this weekend are expected to face larger and more intense protests.

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