WARSAW -- Mitt Romney capped his foreign tour with a major speech here in Poland's capital, though the third leg of the presumptive GOP nominee's trip abroad was again beset by an incident that threatened to overshadow the purpose of his visit.

Romney sought to regain his political footing in the final major appearance on his three nation foreign trip, praising the recent economic success here in Poland and hailing several iconic figures in the nation's history who helped advance Poland out of communist control.

"I believe it is critical to stand by those who have stood by America," Romney told his audience in a university atrium, effectively summing up the message he hoped to convey to all three American allies he visited this week, before pivoting to Poland specifically. "Solidarity was a great movement that freed a nation. And it is with solidarity that America and Poland face the future."

In his fifteen minutes of remarks, Romney also heaped praise on the Polish economy, one of the strongest in Europe, as being emblematic of the kind of free market principles the GOP contender regularly espouses on the stump.

"Your nation has moved from a state monopoly over the economy, price controls, and severe trade restrictions to a culture of entrepreneurship, greater fiscal responsibility, and international trade," Romney said. "As a result, your economy has experienced positive growth in each of the last twenty years. In that time, you have doubled the size of your economy."

But it was an interaction before the speech between a Romney campaign aide and the press corps traveling with the candidate that risked throwing the campaign off-message. Tensions flared following a visit by Romney to Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, where the Republican candidate ignored questions shouted to him by the media. During the entirety of Romney's trip, he took only three questions from the press at a single brief availability in London.

As reporters shouted to be heard by Romney across an open plaza a press aide implored them to be respectful, then adding "kiss my ass," and telling one reporter to "shove it." The aide later apologized.

After the speech, Romney's top strategist Stuart Stevens called the trip a "great success, mostly," and defended the press availability of his candidate, which was limited to a handful of television interviews on top of the availability at 10 Downing Street on Thursday.

"I think he has answered a lot of questions," Stevens said, telling reporters he was pleased that Romney spoke from the heart about what he called "big issues."

"He's saying what he believes," Stevens said.

Polish attendees interviewed before the speech here in Warsaw -- several of whom expressed jaded views towards the current U.S. administration -- said they were interested to hear Romney's views on Russia and visa issues (Russia was mentioned once, visas not at all), but that they recognized the real audience for today's speech was thousands of miles away.

"It's just politics," said Joanne Wierbowska, an economics graduate student. "We know that 10 million Polish people live in the United States so it's obvious he should be here."

Romney played the sympathies of Polish-Americans in his remarks by repeatedly praising a favorite Polish son, revered by many in both countries: Pope John Paul II.

"John Paul the Second understood that a nation is not a flag or a plot of land. It is a people -- a community of values," Romney said. "And the highest value Poland honors - to the world's great fortune -- is man's innate desire to be free."

The speech marked Romney's final major stop of his whirlwind trip, in which a series of perceived missteps often overwhelmed the campaign's message: from calling preparations for the 2012 Olympic games "disconcerting" while in Great Britain, to pegging Israeli and Palestinian economic disparities, in part, to cultural differences.

Whether or not the trip would ultimately be considered a success, Stevens said, would be determined back in the United States, not on headlines generated abroad.

"There is no electoral college here," Stevens said. "You're not trying to win the electoral college in England, Israel and Poland."

GDANSK, POLAND -- Mitt Romney received a warm welcome here on Monday during the final stop of his foreign tour, winning strong praise from one of Poland's most influential political figures that seemed to border on an endorsement.

Former Polish president and Nobel Peace prize recipient Lech Walesa, on whose invitation Romney has chosen to visit Eastern European ally of the United States told Romney, today he wished him "to be successful," but stopped short of saying he was endorsing Romney.

Jason Reed / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney meets with former Polish President Lech Walesa in Gdansk, Poland, July 30.

"I wish you to be successful because this success is needed to the United States, of course, but to Europe and the rest of the world, too. Gov Romney, get your success -- be successful!" Walesa said to Romney during a photo spray at the conclusion of a meeting between the two men.

Walesa's conservative politics align on many respects with the U.S. Republican Party, and he remains a highly respected figure here after helping lead Poland out from behind the Iron Curtain.

The supportive words for Romney, who also met with current prime minister Donald Tusk, were welcome good news for Romney after his campaign was plagued by charges of insensitivity after making remarks at a fundraiser suggesting that wide economic discrepancies between the Palestinian and Israeli people are the result of cutural differences between the two peoples.

"And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things," Romney said at a fundraiser during a monologue extolling Israeli prosperity.

That quote in particular, which was circulated in an Associated Press story, prompted strong pushback from the Romney campaign.

Romney's chief campaign strategist, Stu Stevens, called the story "completely manufactured" and said the Romney campaign was never given a chance to respond to allegations of racism. Stevens said the AP turned an economic observation into a perceived slight, and argued that Romney has previously made similar observations in his books and speeches.

Romney spent his additional time in Poland afternoon visiting two sites of special significance in the U.S.-Polish alliance: the Westerplatte memorial, marking the first shots fired in the second World War, and the Solidarity monument, to Poland's anti-communist efforts.

Poland's long-standing military ties to the United States played a part in the Romney campaign's decision to visit here. This morning, a senior adviser told reporters Poland's contribution of the third-most troops of any nation to the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan was a sacrifice Romney could be expected to note in a planned speech tomorrow in Warsaw.

Mitt Romney set the stage for his impending foreign policy tour with a speech leveling sharp criticism of President Barack Obama, accusing his administration of having weakened America's standing on the international stage.

In a speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention, the presumptive Republican nominee accused the administration of leaking classified intelligence information for political reasons, and demanded that automatic defense cuts included in last summer's debt ceiling agreement be undone before taking effect in 2013.

The former Massachusetts governor's alternative, he said, would amount to an "American Century" in which the U.S. wouldn't flinch from a leading international role.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during the 113th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on July 24 in Reno, Nevada.

"This is very simple: if you do not want America to be the strongest nation on earth, I am not your President. You have that President today," Romney told VFW members gathered in Reno, NV.

The speech was Romney's last official event in the U.S. before embarking on a key journey abroad intended to bolster his foreign policy credentials versus Obama. The trip will take Romney to the United Kingdom, as well as two other nations he name-checked in the speech, Israel and Poland.

Tuesday's speech, along with the trip, comes amid new data in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that shows Obama with a 10-point advantage over Romney on the question of which candidate would serve as a better commander-in-chief.

To that end, Romney sought to weaken Obama's standing on national security issues by highlighting the recent controversy over leaks of classified information - including details of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden and covert subterfuge meant to slow Iran's nuclear progress - that many Republicans believe were orchestrated by the White House for political gain.

"This conduct is contemptible. It betrays our national interest. It compromises our men and women in the field." Romney said."Whoever provided classified information to the media, seeking political advantage for the administration, must be exposed, dismissed, and punished.  The time for stonewalling is over."

Romney also attacked the planned cuts to the defense budget agreed to in a bipartisan debt deal as "wholesale reductions in the nation’s military capacity," and laid full blame at the president's feet. He also linked the cuts to care for veterans - the singular issue in which many in the crowd said they felt the greatest personal investment.

"Mark my words: These cuts would only weaken an already stretched VA system and our solemn commitment that every veteran receives care second to none," Romney said. "If I am president of the United States I will not let that happen."

Romney opposed the deal that congressional Republicans struck with the White House to raise the debt ceiling, though the former Massachusetts governor hasn't specified how else he would have structured such an agreement.

Romney name-dropped two nations that he will visit on his foreign tour, beginning tomorrow, as part of his attack on President Obama by accusing the president of "abandonment" in the case of Poland, which had planned missile defense sites pulled, and of "shabby treatment of one of our finest friends" in Obama's treatment of Israel.

Also notable was what Romney did not say in this major address. He never mentioned Al Qaeda and made only passing reference to Iraq. Two new policy details, flagged by aides to his campaign, were buried in a speech heavier on red rhetorical meat than policy details.

In a fact sheet released during the speech, the Romney campaign called for all future military aid to Egypt to be tied to that nation's upholding of a peace agreement with Israel, and future civilian aid would be linked to good governance measures.

On the prospect of a nuclear Iran, of which Romney said there is "no greater danger in the world today" he pledged yet again to employ "every means necessary to protect ourselves and the region" from the dangers of a nuclear Iran. The fact sheet released by the campaign made clear that this included making sure any negotiated agreement with Iran ascribe to the international "redline" on nuclear enrichment -- that no deal would be considered without Iran fully halting its enrichment activity.

BOSTON — An impending overseas trip lasting six days provides Mitt Romney with the opportunity to highlight his foreign policy bonafides, but is also fraught with challenges for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, reflecting the delicate nature of international diplomacy. 

Romney will set off on Wednesday for his first foreign trip since clinching the Republican nomination for president, a high-profile journey meant to highlight his differences with President Barack Obama.  But the Romney campaign says it would leave politics at the water's edge; the Republican candidate would not explicitly criticize Obama on policy while abroad.

Still, the trip, which will take Romney to three steadfast American allies: the United Kingdom, Israel and Poland, is meant to be as much of a learning experience as a political exercise.

"This trip is really an opportunity for the governor to learn and listen," Lanhee Chen, the campaign's policy director told reporters on a conference call this week. "There are a number of different challenges that the world faces today, and its an opportunity for him to visit three countries that have a strong and important relationship with the United States."

Romney will arrive in London on Wednesday for a series of meetings with British officials — including Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as former government officials like Tony Blair.

British leaders are mentioned frequently by Romney on the campaign trail; the Republican is fond of referencing a conversation he claims to have had with one of the former prime ministers, who privately stressed to Romney the importance of American strength on the world stage.

Romney also plans to attend the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games, which are being held in London. Romney helmed the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and has been a vocal supporter of the Olympic movement since that time. The campaign hopes the stop will highlight Romney's successful tenure as CEO of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, widely seen as one of Romney's strongest personal credentials. The candidate and his wife, Ann, are also expected to attend at least one Olympic event when the games officially open; the Romney family has a personal stake in one of the contests — a horse they own qualified for the American team in the sport of dressage.

From London, Romney will travel to Israel, where he'll meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Romney knows personally from the two men's overlapping tenure at Boston Consulting Group decades ago. Romney will also meet with Palestinian leader Salam Fayyad and will receive a briefing from the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro. Additionally, Romney is expected to give at least one public speech in Jerusalem.

Obama's handling of Israel provides one of the sharpest areas of contrast between Romney and Obama. Romney had said over a year ago that the president threw Israel "under the bus" for his support for certain preconditions to a Middle East peace process.

Romney will conclude his trip with a two day stop in Poland, where the campaign was invited to visit by former president Lech Walesa. Romney will meet with Polish leadership, and tour sites of "historical significance" around the country, according to campaign advisers.

CHALLENGES
But the trip is fraught with a number of potential challenges and pitfalls for the presumptive GOP nominee. His campaign-trail rhetoric must take a back seat on the international stage, where American policy and rhetoric is more nuanced, and relationships with allies are delicately balanced across a spectrum of national interests.

In England, where Romney is expected to be focused primarily on the Olympics, the candidate may be tested on two issues of significant importance to the British people: Afghanistan, and austerity.

The UK has been one of the most steadfast American partners in Afghanistan since the invasion of the country in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The UK has suffered 422 casualties in the decade since, and continued British involvement has grown unpopular over time. 

Obama's decision to set a timetable to withdraw from Afghanistan prompted sharp criticism from Romney, who has said he finds "disturbing" what he calls a lack of mission clarity in Afghanistan. But the presumptive Republican nominee has yet to detail how exactly he would differ from Obama's policy there, beyond suggesting he would heed military leaders' advice more carefully.

Domestically, Britain's struggle to enact austerity measures could prove thorny for Romney, who  has advocated similar deep and broad spending cuts in the U.S. government spending to the ones sought by Cameron's Conservative government. 

Romney's trip to Israel presents another set of challenges for the Republican, who most strike the balance between its criticism of the president and upsetting a delicate political situation in which the United States maintains a large stake. In addition to claiming the Obama administration has thrown Israel "under the bus," Romney has said the best course of action for the United States may be to "do the opposite" of what Obama has done in three years as president.

Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Clinton administration and head of the foreign policy program at the Brookings institution, said that Romney may have an opportunity to gain favor with an "emotional embrace" of Israel, but will likely find little success if he were to criticize Obama's record of security assistance for Israel while in country. (The Romney campaign says that doing that would be highly unlikely.)

"On the one hand, [President Obama has] done everything possible for their security," Indyk explained of the president's hot-and-cold relationship with Israel and her leaders. "But what they really want is his love."

Israelis have been "spoiled," Indyk said in an interview with NBC News, by the last two US presidents, who both "showered affection on Israel," and have taken offense at the fact that Obama has not visited their country as president. But, Indyk argued, on the issues of paramount importance to Israelis — security and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon — Obama's record is "impeccable."

While in Israel, Romney may also be pressed to provide more detail on his policy towards Syria, Israel's northern neighbor, which is now plagued by horrific daily violence and teetering on all-out civil war. Romney has suggested that the US take "whatever action we can" to help remove dictator Bashar Assad from power there, but Russia's role in that conflict may prove difficult for Romney to navigate in both Israel and Poland.

Russia is blocking increased international sanctions against Syria, but has joined in the U.S.-led coalition opposing the development of Iran's nuclear program. Indyk said that Israelis aren't keen on antagonizing Russians, since fears of an Iranian nuclear weapon are the most important issue to Israelis at the moment. 

And if any nation knows the challenges of dealing with Russia, a country Romney once referred to as the United States' "number one geopolitical foe," it is Poland, which suffered for decades under the Iron Curtain, and will be Romney's final stop on his foreign trip. While criticism of Russia may not play well in Israel, it may be welcome in Poland, a nation that has been cool towards the Obama administration since the president scrapped plans for a missile defense site in that country in 2009. 

CRITICISM
The Obama campaign has been quick to undermine and criticize Romney's planned foreign trip as a pale imitation of then-Sen. Obama's own foreign trip as presumptive Democratic nominee in 2008.

Indeed, the Obama foreign trip included stops in Western Europe and Israel — but also a stop in Jordan, an Arab nation, as well as in both active warzones in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Romney has visited US forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan in the past, and has traveled to the UAE, Jordan and Kuwait in previous trips, his decision to not include any such stop this time has drawn preemptive criticism.

"Obviously there are time constraints on any travel he does, particularly overseas, and we just have to make selections about where we want to focus and factor in countries he has traveled to before and this is a schedule we settled on," Dan Senor, a foreign policy adviser to the campaign told reporters last week.

The Obama team has also tried to paint Romney's trip as a photos-and-fundraising exercise, pointing to substantive policy pronouncements from then-candidate Obama on his own foreign trip, and making note of Romney's reported high-dollar fundraisers in both London and Jerusalem.

The Romney campaign says any new foreign policy specifics will come in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno the day before the trip begins, and highlights the candidate's desire to "listen and learn" on his one foreign trip this campaign cycle.

OPPORTUNITY
But the trip is not also without opportunities for the Romney campaign. As a former governor, albeit one with extensive business experience in foreign countries, Romney has little first-hand foreign policy experience. By demonstrating fluency with complex international issues and a deft touch with some of the United States' most important allies, Romney can reassure skeptics he would be a competent commander in chief. 

The Israel trip in particular also holds electoral promise for the Romney campaign.

"It can make a difference," said Indyk, the former ambassador, of a successful Romney trip to Israel. "If Romney convinces enough Jewish voters that he's going to be better than Obama it might help him win places like Florida."

Then there is, as always, the value of political theater. Can Romney look the part of commander-in-chief as he visits, as a private citizen, with top American allies?

"This trip demonstrates Governor Romney's belief in the worth and necessity of standing with our allies and locking arms with our allies, and that indeed is the common theme binding the United Kingdom, Israel and Poland," Chen, Romney's policy director, explained. "Each nation shares our love of liberty as well as the fortitude to defend it."