Taking Exception: Poland's Anti-EU Stance. Poland may be moving closer to the transatlantic community on Ukraine, but when it comes to the EU, it’s another story. https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/taking-exception-polands-anti-eu-stance/
As part of American Purpose’s “Taking Exception” series, Eugeniusz Smolar offers a response to the May 31st article by Dr. Paweł Markiewicz, “The Enemy Next Door.”
https://www.americanpurpose.com/articles/the-enemy-next-door/
From 2015,
when the Law and Justice Party (PiS) took power in Poland, it has been
undermining the legal, institutional, and political basis of liberal democracy
and has strained relations with our closest allies, the
United States and the European Union. Ever since then, the state capture
has progressed unabated.
Painting a
rosy picture of Poland’s ambitions and influence in the world in his May 31st article,
Dr. Paweł Markiewicz skipped over the deep crisis in Polish relations with key
U.S. allies—members of the European Union—with a great majority of the EU
member states having been antagonized by the Polish government’s anti-European
and anti-German policies, which PiS has pursued under the banner of sovereignty. As a consequence, the current
government’s ability to influence joint, often crucial decisions in Europe, has
seriously weakened.
The
Poles en masse have acted admirably in supporting heroic
Ukrainians in their struggle against the Russian military invasion. Markiewicz
rightly underlines that such a stance of the government and society at large be
met with recognition in Europe and around the world.
Poland and
the greater region have certainly been in the spotlight, as aid to Ukraine has
become part of the U.S., NATO, and EU strategy of containing Russia. That
attention is also heightened, thanks to the global rivalry with China. However,
an increase in anxiety, attention, and in deepening military cooperation does
not translate into “moving [Poland] more squarely into Europe’s center of
gravity.” The reason is the lack of trust between Poland and its European
partners.
In spite of Germany’s far-reaching change in policy towards Russia and its radical boost in aid for Ukraine, Markiewicz echoes official propaganda in stating that “as neighbors and close economic partners, Poland awaits clear sign that Germany is putting the interest of Central European allies above its concern for Kremlin.” PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczynski frequently peddles such statements as: “We do not fit into the German-Russian plans to rule over Europe. An independent, economically, socially and militarily strong Poland is an obstacle for them. From a historical perspective, this is nothing new.”
The great
majority of Poles, and not just the government, want Ukraine in NATO and in the
EU. However, with autocracy at home and the “sovereignist” approach to European
integration, the Polish government does Ukraine a disservice, since even a
suspicion that Kyiv will follow in Poland’s footsteps will make the process of
EU admission much more difficult.
The Polish
government went on a spending spree last year, purchasing arms (mainly in the
United States and in Korea), on an unprecedented scale. It increased the
military budget to 4 percent of the GDP, and is planning to double the size of
the Polish Army up to 300,000 personnel.
The Polish
government seems not to count on an agreement with the EU anymore and aims at
presenting the U.S. government with a transactional strategy that emulates
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: We will become a strong, regionally
important military partner with a modernized land army only second to Turkey’s
in Europe, and in exchange, you will accept our autocratic, illiberal policies
at home.
There is no
doubt that this stance won’t work with the European Union. Rather, it will lead
to a weakening of the cohesion of the Western alliance.