Eurasia Press & News
I do not understand those who are wringing their hands that Poland is becoming more and more willing and effective in playing the role of a regional power. I don’t understand them because Poland… is in fact already a regional power. And it would be rather unnatural to pretend that this is not happening.
Have you tried to put on the outfit you went to, say, your first communion in recently? Or your favorite childhood jacket? Probably not. And it’s probably not a coincidence. There are things you just grow out of. Because an adult looks, speaks and behaves differently than a child. It’s natural. Rather, it is unnatural if someone stubbornly tries to deny the facts. He pretends to be a preschooler, although there is a lot of gray on his head and a lot of wrinkles under his eyes. He practices the classic “Piotrusiopanism” described in the psychological literature.
Now let’s apply this principle to the realities of politics. Including international politics. Poland has grown significantly in the last 30 years. Between 1990 and 2022, our economy grew at an average rate of 4%. annually. No country in Europe has achieved such a result at that time. No. And among developed economies, only Australia can boast a better average GDP growth. In 2004, Polish GDP was 40 percent. EU average. Today, 70 percent At the time of our accession to the EU, the ratio of the potentials of the Polish and German economies was 1 to 5. Now it is 1 to 3.
Of course, bare GDP is not everything. And all international comparisons of economic indicators should interest us not for their own sake – because this is not a competition of certificates or a fight for entry in the Guinness Book of Records. I refer to these data in order to show that it is Poland that has actually increased its economic size in recent years. And since we are talking about the fifth largest country in the European Union, such a change is significant and noticeable. You can’t pretend it didn’t happen. Because we are no longer who we were in 1990, 2000 or even 2010.
And yet. I still have the impression that a large part of the Polish public opinion or the political class behaves as if they simply could not see this obvious change. Whenever there is talk of Poland playing a new role in the international system, more suited to its new dimensions, the reaction is derision or hysteria. This was visible even in recent days on the occasion of President Biden’s visit to Poland. Some people complain that it is “saber-swinging”, “dreams of power”, “polachki self-admiration”. Others grimace that we allow ourselves to be used by perfidious America. That we are their “cheap prostitute” again, like twenty years ago on the occasion of the war in Iraq.
It was similar in previous months and years. When Poland clashed with the European Commission (for the Fit For 55 Package), with Germany for the right to reform its own judiciary system or with the US (does anyone remember that?) not to interfere in how we solve our problem of reprivatization claims . Each time, a large part of the Polish commentary could not refuse to rebuke themselves. As if, in their opinion, Poland for some strange reason did not have the right to conduct its own European policy and its own sovereign diplomatic efforts. As if we were somehow incapable of acting in this vital sphere of politics. Why? Because the thresholds are too high? Because too stupid? Too small? Because European policy can be done by wise people in Berlin, Brussels or Paris? But God forbid not in Warsaw!
In fact, that’s idiotic. Such attitudes are, after all, the equivalent of grown-ups parading around in too-short shirts and childhood pants that don’t fasten at the seams. I have the impression that a large part of the Polish public does not want to accept the fact that we have grown out of these clothes a long time ago. They don’t fit us anymore. You need to get yourself a new wardrobe – more appropriate to the new circumstances.
We are no longer the Poland that stood with a ground cap in hand at the gates to the Euro-Atlantic paradise. We are in a different place. We are bigger. And we have the right to behave differently. Like adults. As a 40-million country with the sixth largest economic potential in the EU. As the largest country in the post-socialist region, today it is part of the West. As a NATO frontline country. We have the right to formulate our own interests. Even if these interests do not coincide with those of other big players. We’re low on America when we need it. But we stand up to her when she gets on our heads. Same with Germany, France or the European Commission.
And it’s not “saber swinging”. This is not “polkacy megalomania”. This is reality. This is adulthood. Advertising
