European Parliament Vice President Warns Against Trump's Vilification

WARSAW (Sputnik) — Donald Trump should not be vilified in Europe after being elected as the next US president since his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton championed a "reset" of relation with Russia during her tenure as US secretary of state, European Parliament Vice President Ryszard Czarnecki said Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Trump won the US presidential elections after gaining 276 electoral votes despite most opinion polls predicting his defeat to Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.

"Poland will respect any choice made by the American people. I am against demonizing Donald Trump. As the US state secretary, Clinton was the face of the US-Russian reset. She was responsible for the rapprochement between the White House and the Kremlin, and Poland was placed on the altar of US-Russian cooperation. This was a big mistake made by the United States," Czarnecki said on Polish television.

The parliamentarian called Trump a pragmatic businessman who will listen to his advisers, most of whom are allegedly skeptical about improving relations with Russia.

"Trump's advisers, those which I know, are skeptical toward Russia. I am not afraid of Donald Trump changing policies on Russia. I am sure that he will not meddle in our internal Polish affairs," he said.

The so-called Russian reset was driven by US President Barack Obama's administration since 2009, with Clinton's tenure as secretary of state covering a lot of the period. Throughout the time, Russia and the United States agreed on a nuclear deal on Iran, while the United States halted plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.