Europe: Where East Meets West

Europe: Where East Meets West

Poles in Germany, Germans in Poland.

 

Western countries such as the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany have always been the destiny of many immigrants from less fortunate countries. They all leave their homeland for different reasons: poverty, war, murderous regimes etc. but the final goal was always the same, find better perspectives for life. The United States are still believed to be the dreamland and final destination of most of the immigration attempts but I would like to focus on Europe. The reason I find the imigration issue in Europe is more interesting is the fact, that the old continent faces more legal and social problems concerning immigrants the US doesn’t have to face.

 

In my observation European countries have to face three main types of immigration (terms I use underneath may sound at the begging very fishy, unnatural but you will realize that it will later help to keep track of the migration types I am talking about. Those terms are not scientific and are invented by me only for research and clarification purposes):

 

a)Outside immigration:

 

The first type is the most common situation (that includes also the USA, Canada, etc) where immigrants come from countries that have no significant ties or relations to the ‘welcoming’ country. I call this type of immigration, the ‘outside immigration’. Immigrants in this group are mostly immigrating on a illegal basis or are refugees. War refugees could be actually put as another different type of immigrants, as they receive in most countries a special legal status, but as it differs highly from country to country, I find it more appropriate to place them in the ‘outside immigrants’ group as they match other criteria.

 

b)Inside immigration:

 

The second type of immigration is the ‘inside imigration’. In the past it could be caused by civil wars, unions and counquest. The effect of such events was many times connected with changing of country borders. This lead to situations when citizens of another country, all of them or only a part of the population, where included in the borders of a foreign country. Also many people were just running from war or prosecution. Though nowadays Europe enjoys peace, not so long ago we had an tragic example of this immigration type in the Balkans. The Balkan war made many Serbians, Bosnians, Croats and Albanians migrate. In todays time the creation of the European Union and Schengen policy caused new ‘inside imigration’ waves. There are many similarities to the ‘outside immigration’ as the main reason for immigration is still the economical situation in which the person finds it self at the moment. On the other hand there are other significant reasons for moving to another country within the European Union. For many EU students it is now easier to study at top ranking Universities abroad, and many times they just stay in the country they have made their degree. Also people who move to another country to work, are not always motivated by their economic situation. As companies seek highly qualified employees all over Europe or people just want to rise their personal qualifications abroad.

 

c)Colonial immigration

 

The last type is the ‘colonial immigration’ and concerns in particular those European countries, that had colonies in the past. Many of those countries allowed citiznes of their old colonies to gain their citizenships or at least made it easier for them to obtain it. Along with the citizenship they got the legal right to settle in the countries territory. We could observe This type of immigration both in France and the United Kingdom. Sometimes the decision of giving away citizenships to the residents of old colonies, were motivated economicly to obtain more work force, or were just political decisions. Many times if one member of the family accauired a citizenship it was easy to widen it on the other family members.

 

While analizing all the immigration types mentioned above, I came across many interesting topics, which all are very important to modern reasearch about migration. Though the one issue I would like to focus on is the difference in ‘inside immigration’ from before and after the last extension of the European Union. In particular I would like to share my experience and observations on the matter of Polish immigrants living in Germany and Germans moving to Poland.

 

Being a son of Polish immigrants in Germany, I have experienced all the consequences of living in a foreign society. My situation was different than the usual immigrants. I was the next generation of immigrants, born on German soil. This fact had its advantages. I was legaly considered a citizen of the ‘Bundesrepublik’, and learning the language from the very beggining made me a native speaker with a typical north German accent. I was on the best way to become a German citizen, that has only ancestory ties to Poland. Thanks to my parents this never happened. As many other Poles living and working in Germany, my parents remaind emotionally attached to Poland and Polish national awarness. I remember my father saying: ‘There are two types of Poles here in Germany, those who pretend to be German with no connection to Poland, and those who remain still true to their country’. This type of thinking leads most certainly to alienation of Polish immigrants within the German society and the creation of immigrant enclaves. On the other hand it preserves patriotism and national awarness. As managing strong ties with your own culture or country, while living abroad, is a good thing, many times it ends up in creating negative effects for the whole society. Immigrants closing themsleves in their enclaves, where they pursue their live styles from their home countries, result in even stonger alienation of foreigners. Many immigrants don’t want to even learn the language of the country they live in. They believe that the area they live in, should be ruled according to their own cultural believes. Thinking like that helps to develope all sorts of pathologies and crimes. It is easier for ethnic/national gangs or mafias to establish in enclaves where the immigrant citizens refuse to cooperate with the police or state. This is how an enclave turns into a ‘ghetto’.

 

Of course we can not simplify the phenomen of immigration just to negative effects it afflicts. That would be absolutley untrue and discriminatory. Immigrants bring with them multiculturalism, new work force and many interesting customes. People claim that forigners take away jobs, but what they do not realize is that the increase of population creates more work places. We have to remember that huge companies would always find a way to get cheaper work force from abroad. It is just pure economics, that state regulations never win with. Not all of the immigrants are needed for lesser jobs or vacational work, as many of them are highly qualified professionals. There is also a common believe that immigrants sent all their money to their home countries, so the local economy loses a lot of capital. That is of course partly true, but taking any government statistics, they show emphatically that immigrants create a major amount of wealth for the country. Whereas most of the ‘rich western countries’ population grows old, immigrants are often a fresh, empowering blast for the economy and demography.

 

Going back to the matter of enclaves and ethnic diversity within cities it has to be reminded that it is an old apparition. As an example we just have to go back to the early years of the United States, every major city had ethnic districts like: irish, jewish, russian or mexican. There is of course the famous ‘little italy’ shown on many mafia movies and alive in popculture, or ‘china town’ which became a huge tourist attraction in most cities. The main reason that immigrants rally themsleves in ethnic districs is racial disrimination from the natives in the first place. It feels safer to live in a place where all your neighbours are also immigrants and it helps to overcome homesickness. So immigrants open shops, restaurants, pubs and other facilities that make them feel more at home in their districts. Nowadays the trend turns around, what was once shops only for immigrants now tends to be also for natives and tourists. This is a very positive turn, and helps overcoming prejudices and stereotypes. The common believe was that foreigners districts were dangerous, and in fact their really were. Today the crime rates fo immigrant districts are much lower and are on a good way to change drastically. But unless immigrants work on this fact themsleves it can not be overcome. It is important to remember that if you come to a country, and you use all the freedome and rights the state provides you, you have to respect the law. If most of the immigrants would realize that it would be much easier to establish a serious dialogue.

 

The Polish immigrants in Germany from the 90’s and before had a terrible reputation. It was commonly believed that Poles are responsible for robberies and thefts, in particular for car stealing. I remeber that there was even a common saying: ‘Heute gestohlen, morgen in Polen’ and that means ‘Today stolen, tomorrow in Poland’. In fact it is hard to argue that the Polish mafia had a major influence on crimes in Germany, still it was the minority of Polish immigrants that was involved in crimes. Police statistcs of major German cities showed that Poles were far behind Turkish or Russian immigrants in matter of comitted crimes. Unfortunately the media in those times had a very negative attitude towards the Polish community. Though I have to admitt that those stereotypes had a bit of truth in them. As a matter of fact the Poles in Germany did tend to find ways around law regulations, or did some illegal activities. That may have caused the evolving prejudices. We also have to remember that even though Poles and Germans are both within the European and christian cultural background, there are many cultural differences. To put it as simple as I can, Germans are from germanic ethnic heritage and Poles are from slavic ethnic heritage. This manifests also in matters of temper disparity. So there had to be differences in matters of life perception and everyday customes. It is important to mention that the generation that came to Germany in the 80’s and 90’s was still under strong influence of living in a communist country (as Poland reesatblished democracy in 1989). That is why it was common to treat state regulations with reserve, as they were given by a non-democratic government. And that could absolutely not work in a fully democratic country. Most of the Poles which came to Germany were very poor and used to live in a lower standard than Germans. That is why ‘Polish Jockes’ were very popular those days, laughing about all the strange customes and illegal activities Poles brought with them. All of that happened before Poland became a member of the European Union and a fully fledged democratic country, as with time many things changed. Poland is now a thriving economy and a major European player.

 

Germany realized pretty quick that Poles are hard working and honest people, what was in contrary to the common believes that ruled so far. With young, well-educated Poles coming not only to Germany, but to all the Western European countries, after Poland joined the European Union in 2004, the sterotypes about Poland in Germany started to change. Comparing German press titles about Polish immigrants before the extension of the EU, and after shows us a very different picture, the public opinion has about Poles. A raport¹ made for the Polish Institute of Public Affairs showed that instead of the old stereotype of a drunkard, thief or thug, Poles are now considered as ‘hardworking people to every job’. On the other hand in countries like the United Kindom and Irealnd, the Polish stereotypes just started to occure, but that’s material for another discussion. As a neighbour country and a strategic partner Poland become more familiar to Germans and co-operation on all levels was established. Today there is a major population of Poles living in the Federal Republic of Germany, especially along the Polish-German border. With an estimated number of 1mln people (3 mln believed to have ancestory ties), the Poles remain one of Germany’s main minorities. As said before Polish-German relations improved significant over the years. However very bothersome is the fact that a legal act from the times of the ‘Third Reich’, which states that Poles can not be validate as an official minority is still in power. There are some discrepancies about history and modern Politics, such as the situation of German ‘Aussidlers’ (Germans moved to Germany after WWII due to new border agreements) or German-Russian cooperation with the Nordstream oil project. Those situations however do not afflict the Polish population in Germany directly. As a matter of fact there are still ethnic clashes, along with anti-polish actions of the NPD (Nationaldemokartische Partei Deutschlands) but those situations are marginal.

 

Today the main problem for Polish immigrants is the fact that Germany still has not opend it’s job market entirely for Poles. This is casued by the fact that the German society has the highest percentage of people fearing that immigrants will take their jobs. In a poll of 2008² about 64% of Germans declared they are against opening the labour market for workers from the new EU member countries. The poll has also shown a connection between education level, salaries, east-west division and the attitude towards Polish workers. It seems that the higher the education and salary of a person is, the higher the support for immigrants working in Germany. So the better the persons position on the social ladder the more he or she supports immigrants, and Poles in particular. All this leads mi to the conlusion that the avarage Polish immigrant is still doing small jobs like au pair, builder, bus driver or vacational work. From my own experience in the early 90’s Poles did all the sort of jobs, mostly working illegal but some of them, after acquiring German citizenships took up higher positions. My father who came to Hamburg in the 80’s started as a driver in a courier company, just to get promoted later to a managerial position. In fact many Poles went that way, starting from occasional work opportunities, assimilating with the German society, learning the language, acquiring a ciztizenship, to finally merge with the ‘regular Müller’. Now it is hard to estimate how many naturalized Poles live in Germany.

 

The childhood of a son of Polish immigrants I experienced in Hamburg, I remember as a warm and postivie memory. In fact in German kindergardens and schools, with most teachers being sensitive towards ethnic aggression, and most of them being multicultural, there are very little records of racial or ethnic hatred. In each class or group there always were at least a few kids of different foreign backgrounds. I have personally never encountered ethnic discrimination neither from peers or teachers. What is also very impressive and leads us again to the point that we should actually learn from our children, is the fact that there is absolutley no ethnic division in schools and kindergardens. In my kindergarden Polish, Turkish, German or kids from Former Yugoslavian Republic got along just perfect. On purpose I do no mention Univeristies and any forms of higher education, as Universities in Western Europe have a long tradition of multiculturalism, and accepting foreign students. In fact due to such programmes as ‘Erasmus’ or ‘Study Abroad’ every singel Univeristy in Germany has reasonable percentage of foreign students. And each year this situation improves. In fact throughout the whole time I lived in Germany, I faced hatred only once, by a very bad temepered neighbour, who actually hated all foreigners.

 

In general the Polish minority in Germany nowadays, lives a peacefull life with harmony to the German society. Even though there are differences and clashes, they will appear always in situations where two different cultures interact. Regretably both Polish and German media tend to exaggarate some singel incidents and often wander far away from professional, what makes the Polish-German dialogue more difficult.

 

What concerns Germans moving to Poland, this is a new tendency. Poland was before not an very attractive place for Germans to settle. In fact after the ‘89 democratic changes, and fall of comunism something started to develope. After Poland joined the EU in 2004 things changed significant. Having an strong purchasing power Germans see Poland as a good tourism oportunity or a retierment hideout, as Poland offers them low prizes and untouched beautiful nature. Thats why especially land is in high demand by German immigrants. This of course causes clashes with the local community, as people from rural areas of Poland tend to thing about it as an ‘buy-out’ of their land. The situation is additionally complicated by Erikas Steinbach³ actions around the Federation of Expellees⁴. As Mrs Steinbach represents the German who lost thier properties after World War II and want to get the legaly back. The main claim is that Poland joining the EU agreed to take the responsibility for German clamis. This is of course strongly opposed both by the government and society, and both Polish and German governments decided to work on this matter most carefully. Still Mrs Steinbach is perceived by the Polish public opinion as ‘the evil symbol’ of Germans expansion policy, what of course makes it much harder fot the German-Polish dialogue. But demonizing the Federation of Expellees in Poland also turns out to be a huge exaggaration. In contrary to the common believe even in cases where the court rules the annexation in favor of the German plaintiff, the previous owner receives state compensation. Many time the new German owner lives in good relations with the prior prioprietors and let them stay on good terms. Sometimes the building gets renewed or money is investet in the development of the property.

 

What concerns the treatment of German immigrants in Poland, there are two general attitudes. The first one is a positive approach to all newcomers and foreigners, especially from the West. This is a point of view that mostly the young people and again people with higher education share. The second approach is highly xenophobic, where Germans are considered ‘nazi for a life time’ and are not welcome in Poland. As a matter of fact they are even treated with hatred. The common approach in Poland is mainly to distrust the Germans, as many people still remember the World War II. Lukily this attitude towards foreigners is slowly floating into the margine, because as stated before the youth is much more open-minded and actually feels that the migration of forigners from a higher developed country is something good. This improves the numbers of Germans settling in Poland. The percentage of immigrants from the ‘Bundesrepublik’ is highly concentrated around the Polish-German borders, bigger cities like Gdansk or Wroclaw and the western voivodships. Still the mainstream media tend to exaggarate problems between German and Polish citizens. The loud cases of German ‘Jugendamts’, that are believed to take away children from their Polish mothers/fathers in favor of German parents, make a strong impact on bilateral relations. This a more complex matter, and actually ‘Jugendamts’ are considered in Eruope, to be good working insitutions, that serve the protection of children.

 

In my own experience I can see how the attitude towards German citizens is rapidly changeing in the last few years. Though born in Germany, I have lived there only seven years and I moved to Poland with my mother. In spite of the fact that I was actually 100% Polish I faced discrimination in schools and around my friends, for ‘being the German’. It was especially hard to watch a Polish-German football match, or listen about World War II on history lessons. This are not only my experiences, through out the years I met a lot of Germans living in Poland or Polish immigrants coming back, all their stories were the same. Faceing discrimination and prejudice on the playground and school, the 90s weren’t such a good time for the German community in Poland. All this has changed recently, Germans are welcomed more openly in Poland, the ability to speak German is a huge advantage while seeking a job or in social circles. One of my dear friends said to me not long ago: ‘What I thought once to be curse, now is a blessing’, she moved with her Parents to Gdansk when she was 12, barely knowing Polish, and had a pretty tough time in school, were she was ripped on for being German. Even their Polish neighbours treated them unkindly, often not answering everyday greetings. Once someone painted a ’svastik’ on their car. Nowadays she is a successful lawyer in a Polish-German law firm, and she is certain, that German has helped her a lot. People are happy to hear how well she speaks Polish, and she’s very popular on every party or cultural meeting. That shows how the attitude changed, and the numbers of Germans coming to are increasing. Strong economic ties, membership in the EU will develop their numbers even more.

 

Observing and experiencing the ethnic diveristy both in Germany and Poland gave me the opportunity to conduct my personal reaserch in matters of migration and multiculturalism in the EU. Taking as the main point of my interest the neighbour countries of Poland and Germany, I have come to a pretty optimistic conlusion. The ethnic division so common in the past years for highly developed countries is transforming into a truly multicultural society of the West. The Phenomens of enclaves, ghettos and the alienation of immigrants are becoming marginal. As a matter of fact only very strong culture diffrences lead towards ethnic division in society, and similar cultures learn to co-operate pretty fast. As more immigrants realize the importance of assimilation, the societies of the West realize the importance of dialogue. Understanding of each other cultures is a key to coexistance in a multicultural world, to our mutual benefit. Also as the negative attitude towards foriegners and immigrants keeps on dropping and is more often considerate as a positive phenomen,we still have to think about the countries people are emigrating from. If we want to restrain the immigration process, we have to help them to maintain a satisfactionary wealth level, and that is still a long road to go.

 

MP

 

1Raport Instytutu Spraw Publicznych – ‘Wizerunek immigrantów, a integracja’

2Gazeta Wyborcza (2008.05.27) – Kto się boi Polaków? By Piotr Pacewicz

3Erika Steinbach – A German conservative politician, connected with CDU/CSU, President of the Federation of Expellees

4Federation of Expellees – (ger. Bund der Vertriebenen) a NGO organisation found to represent the interests of Germans who either fled their homes in Central and Eastern Europe or were expelled after World War II

One, two, three, the Nobel gets he!

Normally I do not comment on any awards, medals or peace award decisions, this time the Peace Nobel award forced me to. Today the world heard Barrack Obama was awarded with the Peace Noble Prize. With all the sympathy most people have to the President of the United States of America, and with the long and glorious tradition of the Nobel prize, outcries of confused people like me are considerate irrelevant and disrespectful. But by all means, the Peace Noble was an award for freedom fighters, that showed all the virtues: bravery, compassion, unbreakable will, kindness and the motivation to act for greater good. Moreover the previous Nobelists all received their prize because of their actions, due to the fact they have done something significant and relevant to world peace. President Obama has said many words, but he has done very little towards world peace.

Though most the wars that the US are engaged right now, started at presidents Bush cadence and Obama promised to pull the troops out, that hasn’t happened yet. People die in Iraq and Afghanistan and the government is believed to send in more troops by the end of the year to Afghanistan. So there aren’t any significant action neither in Iraq or Afghanistan, that president Obama could be proud of. The same situation occurs in Pakistan, where Taliban’s and extremists are growing stronger, and the local government copes with them on any occasion. Obama agreed lately to empower the Pakistani military with a new cash flow… again… Same story in the Palestinian conflict, Obama has done nothing in the matter of settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  And then of course there is Iran, during the last elections there was a huge chance to make a democratic turn in this country. So not only the Obama administration has done nothing to enforce the democratic changes but there was also absolutely no progress in convincing the Irani government to stop their nuclear programme.

In matters of humanitarian aid, development programmes and general help to less fortunate countries, Obama’s administration looks even worse then president’s Bush cadence.  There was no improvment in health, food and education programmes throughout Africa, nor serious reconstruction aid for south-east Asian damages caused by nature disasters.

Europe, in Obama’s policy, was left alone with it’s own affairs. So there were no decisions about the extension of NATO, Ukraine-Russia gas clashes, Belarus democracy suppression or even more close cooperation with the European Union in world peace matters.

I understand that president Obama can’t be blamed for receiving the award, and it must have been and equally happy and awkward situation for him. Especially the reason the Nobel committee gave as an explanation ‘we want to encourage him to fulfil his promises’  was pitiful and shadows on the good name of the Noble prize. Last time I checked the Nobel prize was given away actually for doing something. Does this mean the Noble prize has lost it’s prestige?

Let us hope it hasn’t and president Obama will soon ‘grow into his shoes’.

MP

Where blood has been spilled

On the 1st of September 1939 Nazi Germany unleashed upon the world the most terrible war mankind ever experienced. The first victim of this all-out war was Poland, a country that has been enjoying freedom only for twenty years before. On the 1st of September the battleship Schleswig-Holstein attacked the Polish base of Westerplatte in Gdansk, that is how the terrible war begun. The Polish Army, and the whole nation did not surrender, they did not fear the enemy. Outnumbered, out-gunned with older equipment Poland was forced to face the most powerful war-machine of those times.  Left alone by its allies, Poland stood alone against the wrath of the Third Reich.

On the 17th of September 1939 while Polish Forces tried to repel the Nazi aggressor, from the east there came another mortal blow. The soviets attacked Poland from the east and opened the second front, Poland fell. Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia spilt Poland territory between them once again. This was the outcome of the secret pact between Germany and Russia called the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact.

The Polish land was soaked in blood of it’s finest children.  The regular army lost, the country was occupied, but the spirit was never broken.

The Polish Underground resistance movement created the best ‘underground country’ with legal authorities on all levels, mail office, schools and higher education. And what is most important Poles never stopped fighting, with the creation of ‘Armia Krajowa’ (AK) many diversions against the Nazi occupants were performed. And in August 1944 Poles in the capital city of Warsaw, made their last heroic attempt to overcome the aggressor, the ‘Warsaw Uprising’ begun. Everybody fought, children and women, but they were to few to little to win. If Soviet Russia like it claimed was an ally of Poland, why did the Red Army stand across the river of Wisla, and watched as the Germans quashed the uprising?

Even though Poland is believed to be on the ‘winning’ side of World War II, Poland hasn’t received it’s freedom back until 1989, because from 1944-45 Poland was under the influence of the Soviet Union, which changed the once proud country into a satellite peoples republic.

1st of September 2009, the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. In the city of Gdansk, at the cemetery and monument of Westerplatte, 20 delegations from all over the world, joined the Polish government at the World War II memorial. In a place where for 7 days a little garrison of Polish soldiers faced the overwhelming forces of the ‘whermacht’  which was supported by air-craft and a battleship, the memories of the grim days are still present. Now Europe’s leaders meet, to show that Europeans took this lesson of history very careful. Many countries send their highest rank delegations, but as the main sides of the conflict the most important guests were Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and the Prime Minister of Russia Vladmir Putin.

It is a very important event when both the aggressors of Sept’39 meet with Polish officials and say difficult words about an even more difficult past. Chancellor Merkel made an outstanding speech, in which she outpointed that it was Germany to blame for the war and that Germans feel responsible and are deeply sorry for their history. It was a very symbolic and admirable move, as German-Polish relations are very good nowadays and develop even more positive each day, it is important that both Poles and Germans, understand their responsibilities. Following the words of the famous letter of Polish Bishops to German Bishops, I will quote the most significant ones included in this letter: ‘we forgive and ask for forgiveness’. This message is very important as each nation has to realize that if we await apologies we also have to give them. That is why Angel Merkel and all the Germans have the full right to talk about the tragedies of all the displaced Germans. It is highly inappropriate to measure the scale of human tragedies, we shouldn’t try to to suppress the outcry’s of any nation that suffered during World War II. Even if they were responsible for it’s outbreak.

Vladimir Putins appearance created high hopes in Poland, everyone was expecting that he would say something historical and maybe Polish-Russian relations would finally improve. The main problem in the history of those two nations, are the USSR actions during World War II and after it. First of all the Poles can’t forget that Stalin has allied himself with Hitler and back-stabbed Poland. Secondly there is the very important issues of Soviet war crimes including genocide.  Most memorable is the cruel executions near town of Katyn where thousand of Polish officers and intellectuals where killed by NKVD and the Red Army. Even though they were disarmed and held captive, the Soviets killed them all, mostly by a shot at the back of the head and buried them in mass graves in the woods. The Russian government still won’t acknowledge it as a genocide against the Polish nation. Though there were some words of excuse during Presidents Jelcyn rule, that matter was never fully solved. And the last grudge Poland holds against Russia is the fact that the Soviet Union forced Poland into it’s influence. Poland has become a part of the communist block, and for years many more Poles have died and suffer under the murderous regime. In 1989 Poland finally gained full independence and has been active in Eastern European politics, very often clashing politically with Russia.

Prime Minister Putin spoke about the difficulties in history, he mentioned the fact that Poland was the first country to suffer the war. He praised the courage of Polish soldiers and reminded that Poland was on the winning side, fighting with Hitler and ending the war. He mentioned that both countries had dark points in their history and compared the Soviet war crimes to actions of the government of the II Polish Republic before the war, when numerous Russian soldiers were hold in camps in Poland and died. For many historians (even Russian) it is clear that although communist soldiers where kept in camps in Poland after the ‘Bolszewik War’(1919-20) they didn’t die because of executions or genocide but due to many illnesses and terrible sanitary conditions. This was a tragedy we should sorrow but those soldiers were captive because their were aggressors, as the Soviet Union tried to expand it’s communist influence further on Europe. While the murdered Katyn victims were captive soldiers and civilians, defending their own country and freedom.

Putin didn’t make a breakthrough on Westerplatte. But Poland and Russia are getting more and more reasonable towards one another and it is possible that in the future, the difficult relations will look similar to the Polish-German and German-Russian relations, where partnership is above historical differences.

Finally it is important to mention that President Lech Kaczynski spoke about a difficult matter in Polish history. Poland occupied a part of Czechoslovakia (today’s Czech Republic and Slovakia) called ‘Zaolzie’ and somehow allied with Hitler who claimed the country as a part of the Third Reich. President Kaczynski said that it was a hollow and dark moment in Poland history and apologised.

What is necessary now is to remember that even though history is important and can not be forgotten, we have to build our modern relations, on present issues and try to reason more than quarrel.

MP

History is never easy, Polish-Russian clashes.

Having a long and troublesome history of conflicts, wars and conquest, both Russia and Poland seem never to stop their history clashes. From public debate towards everyday neighbours discussions, conflicts in the variety of areas like economy, politics and history, do monopolize the Polish-Russian dialogue. While Poland remains to accuse Russia for the Soviet Unions Aggression on the II Republic of Poland during World War II ( 17.09.1939) and for the genocide on Polish Officers and Intellectuals in Katyń, Russia keeps on questioning the Polish rule over Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania before the World War II and suggests Poland has taken an aggressive political route towards Russian influences in Eastern Europe.

Moscow claims that the high activity of the Polish government in regions of Russian interest like Ukraine or Georgia, as well as putting parts of the American Missile Defence System on the territory of Poland, are all hostile acts towards Russia. On the other hand they refuse to acknowledge any acts of violence and terror made by the Red Army on Polish civilians and war prisoners, as according to Moscow’s policy the Red Army should be presented as heroes and freedom bringers. Though Russia could not declaim the existence of Katyń mass graves, it simply points the responsibility for this war crimes towards Nazi Germany. As it has been historical proved to be NKVD and the Soviets to blame for, the Russian government refuses to take responsibility for any of the accusations. Instead Russian media try to attack Poland, implying that the II Republic of Poland, was Hitler’s first political ally, when it attacked Czechoslovakia. Even though the Polish aggression on Zaolzie (a part of Czechoslovakia back then) is a historical fact, the Russians go one step further. According to latest publication in Russia, the Soviet Union had to attack Poland after signing the Ribbentrop Molotov charter, as Poland was a threat for peace. This is a very poor justification for helping Hitler to bring down the Polish state, as it was by far impossible for small Poland to pose a threat to the expansive and military growing USSR. In fact Poland seemed to be a barrier for exporting the communism revolution further and controling the region. Not to mention Russia attacked Finland and occupied the Baltic Republics.

Although it seemed that there is a huge turn in Polish-Russian relations, as the prime minister Vladimir Putin is believed to come to Poland to the anniversary of the outbreak of World War II and after the Georgian war the governmental relations between Warsaw and Moscow tend to be warmer, there is still a lot to be done. The Polish could not react with anger outbursts on every publication in Russia. Of course there are a lot of unsolved issues from the past, but today’s politics is facing even more critical conflicts that should be solved. There should be more reasonable dialogues and less fierce discussion, lets hope we live up to a time that Poland and Russia will realise that it is mutual beneficial to be partners then enemies.

MP

A new Iran is coming?

Iran with it’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is considered by many countries as a unstable and dangerous regime rather than a democracy. Being the strongest enemy of the United States in the region, Iran started it’s nuclear program several years ago. It is continuously stated by Iran’s governmental officials that the nuclear program is run only for peaceful, energetic reasons. Those statements are put in doubt not only due to the Iran-US conflict, but also because Ahmadinejads hostile policy towards Israel and it’s allies in the region. As the Iranian president is famous for his anti-isreali speeches and for denying the holocaust. He threatened Israel with war many times. Although in the diplomatic world, Ahmadienajds threats are believed to be more or less connected to his political strategy, the tension in the region rises.

Big changes were expected due to the presidential elections, where the present president Ahmadinejad was believed to be at least 20% behind his liberal opponent Mir Hossein Moussavi in pre-election polls. Although Moussavi’s supporters try to prove that the government manipulated the election, it seems that the world will have to face Ahmadinejad ruling in Iran once more.

Mir-Hossein Moussavi, former Prime Minister in time of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was Ahmadinejads biggest opponent. With a enormous number of supporters especially among women and young people, Moussavi had also allies in foreign leaders and even most of Iran’s parliament members. Most Iranians took up the colour green to symbolize their support for Moussavi. The elections where accompanied with struggles between Ahmedienjads Revolutionary Guards and the ‘green streets’.

One thing is certain, Moussavi may have lost the election. But something has moved in Iran, maybe just a little rock of liberalization, but single rocks tend to turn into avalanches.

MP

Europe has chosen

Finally we are after to 2009 elections to the European Parliament, and the European voters have chosen their representatives. Although the attendance wasn’t high (end up in around 42,9) the results show us the current political atmosphere on the old continent. With the strong win of centre-right(most involved in the European Peoples Party fraction) orientated parties in most of the EU member countries and the fall of popularity among socialist, we now know what we can expect from the EU in the future years. We will have more pro free market  decisions and maybe a stronger tendency to speak with the same voice in the international forum about important topics such as energetic safety, Russia-EU policy and ‘Green Energy’. EU funds for agriculture and development of poor regions may suffer though. Of course I try to provide a common pattern for the whole EPP group, but many times the view about those important matters differ according to country.

Well with the EPP success in countries like Germany, France, Poland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Lithuania and Cyprus, Europeans have shown that even in times of an economic crisis, socialists should not be sure of good results. Their provided ‘remedies’ including more government aid and more strict market regulations have not convinced the voters and the EPPs more balanced voice won. It seems that the biggest losers of this election are eurosceptic parties with Declan Ganley’s Libertas in the first place. As Ganley did not manage to get a place in Brussels himself. According to the recent affairs in the United Kingdom concerning money frauds and misuse by the MPs from the Labour Party, it is not surprising that the conservatives won the elections in Great Britain. Even though the British conservatives belong to the EPP they have plans to establish a new group with the Czech ODS party (which won in Czech Republic).

The low attendance in this election show that people either do not believe that the European Parliament has any real power or the economic crisis keeps them focused more on their local political scene. One thing is certain right now, even with such a good performance the EPP will have a handful of problems to face.  The ratification of the Treat of Lisbon is still an unsure thing, as the Irish will have to vote again in a national referendum and both the Polish and the Czech president did not sign the treaty. Additionally it may happen that the British Conservative Party after winning England’s next Parliament election, will try to push the once accepted treaty through a referendum as well.  The Lisbon Treaty is a chance to reshape most of the bodies of the EU, as it gives more privileges (power indeed) to the European Parliament.

There might be a struggle for the position of the Head of the European Parliament between Mario Mauro from Italy and Jerzy Buzek from Poland. Both sides being strong members of the EPP (Mauro – PdL and Buzek – PO) will do everything to get the position so we will see great support campaign and backstage moves on both sides.

It is a shame that people to don’t treat this elections more seriously…

MP

‘Solidarity’ became just a word again…

In 1989 Poland a Eastern European country which was part of the communist block gave Europe the biggest gift in history, in the Shipyards of Gdansk Poles started the fall of communism. A movement started by Shipyard workers spread all around the country, uniting the people against the communist regime. The Polish dreaming about freedom and democracy created a civic movement ‘Solidarity’ (pol. Solidarność). Although the communist government tried everything, from anti-solidarity propaganda to brutal acts against the protesters they couldn’t break the spirit of an awakening nation.

The leaders of the movement were simple yet brilliant people like Anna Walentynowicz, Andrzej Gwiazd or the most famous solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa. Working closely together and encouraged by the Polish Pope John Paul II, the ‘Solidarity’ movement became the powerful voice of freedom. This voice managed to run a peaceful revolution in Poland, when in the 4th of June 1989 the first (partly) democratic elections were held, all the countries suffering from the ‘communism disease’ went into the Polish footsteps. Soon a free and democratic Europe became reality.

In few days huge celebration will be held due to the 20th anniversary of the ‘89 free election. This is where the splendour of ‘Solidarity’ ends. Today people forgot that ‘Solidarity’ means TOGETHER not AGAINST. With Lech Walesa accused of treason and being in conflict with most of the other ‘Solidarity’ leaders, we face each day another festival of hatred. When people from the government call present ‘Solidarity’ members by the word bandit, and when ‘Solidarity’ activists forgot about they heritage, we face a sad era in Europe. Those activists started to support specific political options and care more about their own business than about the legend of ‘Solidarity’. Instead of showing who strong and proud Poland has became, they act not better than anarchists on G8 summits, devastating  cities and fighting with the Police.

The government is not without guilt in this conflict. Instead of a dialogue with members of the society, they hide between accusing ‘Solidarity’ members of supporting the opposition and fighting the ruling party. The celebrations of June the 4th should be held in Gdansk, where it all begun. Instead the Prime Minister decided to run to Cracow so he could avoid any protesters.

My question is, where in all of this have we lost our true solidarity, we made the worst thing we made out of a freedom movement a simple word again…

MP

Quo Vadis Europe?

With the world economic crisis still chocking most of the European economies the EU has more and more challenging problems to face. As new symptoms of the recession appear (high unemployment rates, lower consumption, shortage in all sorts of welfare) it becomes increasingly harder to talk about common market policies and economical strategies. EU members are already divided into those who try to boost their economies with state help (donating huge money amounts into the endangered sectors) and those who oppose such actions with different ideas (tax variations, consumption stimulation). Leaders constantly repeat they are willing to come up with a common plan to fight with the recession, meetings are held, talks are open and yet still nothing is done.

Most recent moves of bigger European countries (France, Germany) show that the idea borrowed from Barack Obama (huge government donation package) are not enough to drag Europe out of the crisis depth. Even so far crisis-untouched Poland is predicted to fall into recession. This shows that without a common policy the EU is helpless against the crisis. The old continent needs swift moves in matters of economic regulations and it is not any more about the single interests of each member country due to the fact that European markets are to tightly connected to each other. To prove this point you do not have to look very deeply, Germany which is Europe’s biggest economy having a huge recession, inflicts all neighbour countries. So any shakes on German markets echo i.e. in Poland, Czech Republic or Austria.

Where in all this economic disaster is there any place for further European integration? Well the answer is both easy and complicated. Paradox? Not really if we think about it, European citizens are not helpless. With a more aware approach we can force our own policies on our government. The new approach should be easy to understand, so I will try tu put it in as simple words as I can: Together is easier. I know this may sound like old euroenthusiasts slogans but it is quite different. Important issues like energetic safety, job fluctuation or common banking sector regulations should be the priorities for Brussels and national leaders right now. We do not have to agree on a ‘Supercountry’ with eurobureaucrats watching our every step. Cooperation doesn’t have to mean marginalizing of national or local authorities, it is more about finding a common point.

Young people undergoing their studies all over Europe right now see it much clearer than politicians. After all the youth will change the tomorrow of Europe, all the prospective economists, managers, lawyers, entrepreneurs will have the biggest impact on post crisis Europe. Realizing that something has to be done in matters of business ethics is the first step. Although the world crisis started in the United States, European bank managers are not without guilt. The banking system got out of control especially in loan matters. While huge amounts fo money where kept by bank directors as ‘money security packages’ banks went bankrupt. Without the loan stimulus all economy sectors started to slow down. That and the big fuss around stock markets drop downs followed capital withdrawal, what actually caused panic in all the world markets. Less capital for investments and huge value loses of the market main players leaded to drastic cost cutting. And that included job shortage and the rise of unemployment what again caused lower consumption power with people putting even less money into the system.

I think the European Union is a chance to avoid economic break downs or at least to come up with a common plan to fight back recessions like these. That is way our aproach is so important. Free market and liberal economy leaves us the flexibility to adjust to changing market terms, but we have to look into the actions of biggest decision makers (like bank directors this time), so we could predict any another crisis. The best way to secure our future is to spread European awarness, together it will be easier to compete with China, USA or India. That is why I think young people should cross the borders more often, choose foreign Universities and provide circulation in workforce. We have to take advantage in our diversity.

MP

Pakistan off the track

More and more thrilling information come from Pakistan. The spiral of violence in the country is increasing in a critical moment as U.S. executives along with the Pakistani Government try to reassure the world that Pakistan is a stable and democratic country. After the incidents including the Red Mosque unrest back in 2005 and the attack on the Sri Lankan national cricket team this year the image of Pakistan as peaceful country was already questioned. Although the big effort Pakistani people put in establishing a fully democratic and safe country, the ongoing clash of government forces and Taliban militants in the provinces by the Afghanistan border threatens peace in the region again.

Without more economic support from the U.S. and the rest of the Western World it will be very hard for the Pakistan government to deal with growing extremists influence in the country. It is a key matter for all the superpowers involved in the region to understand that Pakistan is already a democratic country but without providing economic stability and life perspectives for its citizens, Pakistan could take a big step backwards. Many terrorist groups base their influence on helping regular people with money, health and education issues and by that winning their hearts. As most of the common people are very poor it is easy for them to strengthen the militant ranks in exchange for any perspectives for the future. It is very simple they mostly have no other choice. And until the Western World will not realize that not only Muslim fanatics are the core of extremists groups, they will send more and more troops into the region. By doing that they are empowering the bloodshed and making it more difficult for the legitimate representatives of the nation to establish a strong position.

If more money is going to be pumped up into infrastructure, education and the economy in general, then there is a significant chance for peace not only in Pakistan, but also in the neighbour countries.  But of course that would need swift action of western governments, which are actually more concerned with aiding their own economies and resurrecting the banking sector, due to the global financial crisis. Maybe instead of boosting the banking sector which depends on a system that is more similar to an ill person than to a well calculated financial solution, the leading economies of Europe should provide more support to countries like Pakistan. Thinking of it not as a peace tribute but more like an investment, could also solve some problems of today’s global financial crisis. Instead of keeping alive the unreasonable credit system that created huge amount of virtual money and the false comfort of prosperity to many countries (the outcome was bankruptcy of Island and all the economic problems  of countries like the U.S., France and the U.K. on the one hand and Lithuania, Hungary and Russia on the other), we could focus on finding new paths for the money flow just in Pakistan as a start.

With a strong government that could provide perspectives for it’s citizens it would be much harder for extremists to recruit new members. This would finally lead to stabilization or at least peace talks. People who live in fully democratic countries and enjoy peace (count me in) have a major responsibility to overcome our prejudice and stereotypes about Pakistan. We have to support the fresh Pakistan democracy in the struggle towards peace. There have been a lot of tragic events including the assassination of prime minister Bhutto or the last terrible execution of a Polish worker, but that is not the only side of Pakistan, and we have to remember it, while we sit comfy in our homes and watch horrifying news.

The Pakistani also hold great responsibilities. As a nuclear power Pakistan has to know the importance of peace in the region is also relevant for the peace in the world. Relations with it’s neighbour India, especially after the attack in Mumbai are again very tense. After the investigations in Mumbai it seems that the main trace leads towards Pakistan as the base of the attackers. And India’s government speaks more and more openly about the involvement of Pakistani special forces. If Pakistan and India won’t stop to accuse each other over everything it might end up in a huge conflict involving the rest of the world. Again if the claims for Kashmir won’t stop on both sides, the problem of this province will be never solved.

The next challenge for the Pakistani Government and the people of Pakistan is to strike down the power of the tribal militants in the north, and suppress the Taliban activity along the border with Afghanistan. The situation of Pakistani women should also improve as soon as possible, as their are suffering domestic violence and rapes almost everyday. Not only the  common attitude towards women in Islam is the problem in Pakistan, but also the lack of response by the police and the fact that women are still to afraid to tell anyone about what they suffer at home. Lately a woman was attacked by her cousin just because she refused to marry him. The man took a butcher knife, tied her down, and after hours of beating he cut of her leg and left her in a paddle of blood. The woman was saved but she lost her leg. If situations like this will go on in Pakistan, there is no great future for the country. If this goals can be achieved, Pakistan could finally enjoy peace.

Michael P.

People forge war, war forges death

Killing in Gaza continues as short after midnight new Israeli air force attacks were launched. The situation in Gaza is critical, overcrowded hospitals have to deal with more and more wounded. The medical staff was already overwhelmed by yesterdays casualties. After U.N. Security Council statement about “precipitously help for civilians” Israel let through few supplies trucks, at the same time reassuring about ongoing military attacks.

War on terror is a very important matter of today’s world, and the safety of its citizens is major responsibility of each country. But nothing, absolutely nothing can justify the tragedy of innocent people. All the death and destruction in Gaza, brings Israel not one step closer to assure safety to its own citizens. With each ‘terrorist’ ( when you assume that each Hamas member is a terrorist, whit what I have to strongly disagree) there dies at least one innocent person, who is not concerned with politics.

fot. AP / Hatem Moussa

I will have to ask again. Where does the bombing lead? Will Israel be safer now? As far as the statements of Hamas officials and ringleaders are concerned, there will be more fighting. The main aim of the Israeli military operation is to reduce rocket attacks launched from the territory of Gaza. That goal will not be achieved, due to vengeance promises from Hamas. Most of the Palestinians already declared a Jihad Talab, that can be strongly supported by other Arab countries, which try to put pressure on the U.N. Security Council to take further action.

The tension is high, the streets of Gaza already speak about the third Intifada. That means a common uprising against Israel. If that happens, Israel will have to face not only all of the Palestinians but thousands of Muslim volunteers from all the Arab countries. The conflict is getting pretty close to war.

fot. AP / Hatem Omar

The West Bank Fatah leader and president of the Palestinian Autonomy Mahumoud Abbas has already no influence on the situation in Gaza. As he is losing more and more authority in the power struggle between Fatah and Hamas in West Bank, he still believes in a cease fire. Abbas on a press conference claimed that Gaza need another truce agreement and the ‘violence causes violence’.

Despite of single voices the majority of the Arabs believes that Israel started another war. Supporters from Egypt, Syria and Iran already promised to join the Palestinians in case of the Intifada. Israeli mobilizes military troops, and moves infantry towards Gazas border. Iran threatens that if Israel keep on mobilizing military troops the local conflict could spread towards the whole Middle East.

Let us hope, that both sides will finally find some reason and the U.N. will finally do what it is destined for.

Shalom-Salam

MP