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Poland Gets The Horn
Poland voted to ditch one-half of its "Terrible Twins" partnership this weekend, replacing Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski with centre-right free market conservative Donald Tusk.
Tusk's Civic Platform party, which is described as both Atlanticist and pro-EU, scored a victory over Kaczynski's party, who were, the Guardian insists, a "two-year experiment in isolationism, nationalism, and intolerance."
Kaczynski's twin brother, Lech, remains President and has veto powers.
EURSOC hasn't followed the antics of the Kaczynskis very closely, but they must have been bloody awful if the left-wing Guardian is jubilant about the election of a fiercely anti-Communist right-winger who has pledge to slice taxes and privatise much of Poland's economy .
And indeed, follow the article and you'll find just why the newspaper thinks the outgoing PM was so bad: It's just like Israel. How typical of the Guardian to have a crack at Israel in a story about Poland!
How's it like Israel, then? In a line repeated in the newspaper's leader column, Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, director of Warsaw's institute of public affairs, says Kaczynski "sought to turn Poland into a combative, nationalist, and aggressive place ruled by a siege mentality, surrounded by perceived enemies, and utterly committed to the closest possible security relationship with Washington."
The outgoing Prime Minister's "model for Poland was Israel."
Surrounded by perceived enemies? No-one in their right mind would claim that Israel's enemies are only "perceived". The nation has been under siege from its neighbours since its birth, while in recent years Iran's leadership has ranted about its determination to wipe Israel from the map. It's hardly a surprise that Israel is combative: If it wasn't, it simply wouldn't exist.
Fine. The academic employees of public bodies are notoriously soft-headed when it comes to Israel. But what about Poland, where one would imagine Kolarska-Bobinska might have more experience? Again, one can hardly blame some Poles, particularly those of a certain age, from experiencing a siege mentality. Seventy years ago, the Nazis rolled in from the west, devastating Poland. A few years later, the Russians came from the east, and this time didn't go: Poland suffered under Soviet brutality for half a century.
Certainly, it's important that we all move on and forget about the past, particularly now we are EU chums. Certainly few sane people fear Germany's military might. But Russia? One could make a very good case that a strong suspicion of Russia is the only possible response for rational Poles. The current Russian President sees the break up of the Soviet Empire as the worst political disaster of the past 100 years. Hardly reassuring for a nation just emerging from the bear's shadow. And besides, it's not as if Poland is alone in "mentioning in the war": Russian hackers brought Estonia's internet and business infrastructure to a standstill this year following a row over a WWII memorial. Moscow flexes its muscles by muttering dark threats about oil and gas supplies to countries who dare disagree with it, particularly those in its former sphere of influence (which reminds us, winter is approaching: Expect the annual roar from Russia shortly).
Thankfully, it seems that the new Polish government is unlikely bend to Moscow's will. Donald Tusk is a veteran in the struggle against Communism. As the Guardian notes, his Civic Party is pro-EU, but not slavishly so: It battled fiercely for the voting rights Poland was promised in the Nice Treaty of 1999, but denied in the rejected Constitution and its revised successor. Many in the party still smart after that defeat.
Tusk plans to remove Poland's remaining troops from Iraq. Hardly a great blow for the US, this, considering Britain too is winding down operations in the country. In any case, Tusk claims to be an Atlanticist: Since when did the definition of Atlanticist become a willingness to get involved with every US military venture?
Tusk's economics have startled some of the horses. One loon on the Guardian's comments page says the Civic Platform is "even worse" than the defeated Law and Justice Party, thanks to its "rabid neoliberalism".
The Guardian's correspondent might have a point: The more level-headed Times praises Donald's Tusk's "central message of modernity and economic competitiveness" which has appealled to Poland's "business elite". He sounds like EURSOC's kind of guy - but will the Poles continue to buy his liberal message as vested interests are broken up and those "locusts", who tend to plague any discussion of liberalisation in central Europe, come buzzing in?
Certainly, many Poles will find the condescending tone of British reports on Tusk's victory offensive. The general message - "welcome to the world of grown-up politics" - is sinister, not to mention absurd, especially when one considers that Switzerland has just rewarded its largest party, the anti-immigrant nationalist People's Party, with a record vote. The hopes and suspicions which brought the Kaczynskis to power aren't going to disappear -especially when Poland's neighbours are by turns patronising and belligerent.
