ENGLISH VERSION

What more should the Polish government do in order to be noticed?

- letter from a Polish activist to his Western friends

On the 16th of April 2003, during the EU Summit in Athens, the leaders of Central and East European countries signed the accession treaty. The triumphant Polish media immediately claimed this event to be "Poland's entry into Europe", ignoring the numerous demonstrations and protests which accompanied the summit. Tens of thousands of union members and Greek citizens, refusing the visit of "Blair, Aznar and Berlusconi, all three guilty of war crimes" during this summit.

Dear Greek friends, I would like to inform you that my colleagues and I judge your protests to be fair and just. I'd equally like to express my support for you and for the actions you undertake.

However, I have some doubts about the list of those who your demonstrations are aimed at. From my point of view the list is incomplete. Since, dear friends, you've forgotten a grey-haired gentleman, not very tall, but always smiling (like president Reagan a few years ago), who, he too, signed the accession treaty.

This gentlement is Leszek Miller. He's the prime minister of the Republic of Poland, a country of 40 million inhabitants, located smack in the centre of Europe. He sees himself and calls himself a social-democrat. In addition, he's the leader of the largest party of the Polish left. I think that our prime minister deserves more attention from the Greek activists than Aznar and Berlusconi. Just like Aznar and Berlusconi, who in the support for the war in Iraq, mocked the will of their peoples (at least 90% of Spanish and slightly less Italians being against this aggression), yet did not have the courage to send their armies to Iraq. Were these right-wing prime ministers, leaders of Catholic countries, afraid to act assertively against the advice of the Vatican?

I'd like to inform you that the Polish prime minister not only decided to unconditionally support the anglo-american aggression against Iraq, thereby mocking the opinion of 75% of Poles and the will of thousands of demonstrators, but moreover sent 200 soldiers of the Polish Army to Iraq, who actively participated in combat. It is said that Poland is the most Catholic country in Europe. Apparently this fact does not stop our most senior ecclesiastical dignitaries from loving America more than Pope John-Paul II. Clearly, they too failed to say "No" to this war. The Polish participation in the aggression against Iraq was even noticed by George W. Bush, who now calls the president of the Polish Republic, Mr Kwasniewski, "my best friend in Europe". Donald Rumsfeld, he too, found the right thing to say by confirming that the Polish soldiers had accomplished "an excellent job" in Iraq. According to "The Guardian", (18/03/2003), Poland was one of the four countries having sent its troops to Iraq. Among these four
aggressors, Poland is the only one where English is not the official language...

You would think that the Polish media are more faithful to Washington than American public relations agencies. Why? Here are a few examples.

Just when the war started, on Polish public television, viewers could see and hear a presenter express his unhappiness with that fact that the Americans had not bombarded the headquarters of Iraqi television: "So they can continue to make propaganda." Mr Adam Michnik, chief editor of the biggest Polish daily "Gazeta Wyborcza", found a "proof hitherto unknown" of the link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda: the Embassy of Iraq had not put its flag at half-mast following the September 11 attack. It's quite possible that neither Rumsfeld, nor Ms Rice could have permitted themselves such arrogance and insolence!

The greatest "moral authorities" in Poland refer to anti-war activists as "americanophobes" and "useful idiots" (which is what Stalin called the representatives of western peace movements). At the same time, no big distribution newspaper wanted to publish the messages of anti-war activists. Mr Marek Edelman, the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Rising of the Jewish Ghetto in 1943, used a "diplomatic" term for antiwar activists, calling them simply "a band of cretins". Contrary to their "American chums", the government (president, prime minister, minister of foreign affairs) and the Polish media don't say much about the "Iraqi weapons of mass destruction". Most of the time, they stress the profits for Polish companies, thanks to our participation in the war.

Our leaders are "straight-talkers", rather than minor sleazy liars, well trained in PR strategy. They rely on the tiny slice of the colonial cake that the Americans might offer them some day, in exchange for their submission. It's for this that they sent soldiers to the Iraqi front. Poland never had colonies, which is seen by certain left-wing politicians as a major Historical error. They cry from the rooftops that Polish companies must get back the 700 mln USD of Saddam's debt in Poland. The Polish prime minister, a leftist, insists that the reconstruction of Iraq constitutes the greatest opportunity for the development of our economy. The Infrastructure Ministry has already started to collect proposals from Polish businessmen. The leader of Unia Pracy (Work Union - a political party belonging to the Socialist International) and the minister himself, openly announces his departure for Washington accompanied by numerous businessmen, with the aim of lobbying he who distributes the loot - the american Big
Brother. "This war is in Poland's interest" writes the liberal "Gazeta Wyborcza". "The Polish oil consortium is trying to obtain the possibility of controlling several oil fields in Iraq and is considering the construction of a new pipeline" - declarations like this, expressed during the bombing of Baghdad, are not seen as "bad taste".

The Polish president confirms unashamedly: "The UN is an archaic and bureaucratic structure, still dating back to the cold war epoch. It has trouble accepting progress, we don't need it and old Europe ought to finally understand this."

Furthermore, the unilateral submission to the Americans seems reasonable to them. These ex-followers of orders from the USSR today need a single powerful Big Brother, who will tell them what they should do. Recently, the Polish government again proved its loyalty to the Americans: it made the most expensive war purchases that we had never seen before. 4.7 billion USD for "multirole" F-16 aeroplanes. I'd like to remind you that the Brazilian president, Lula, didn't invest money in planes, preferring instead to devote it to the fight against famine in his country. In Poland, according to governmental data, 716,000 children go hungry. Even though the cost of the F-16's was enough to feed all the hungry Polish children for 40 years, the government decided to buy aeroplanes!

Forces in favour of the integration of Poland in... NAFTA are becoming more and more powerful. No, dear friends, I haven't made a mistake and I'm not in the mood for humour. This is the programme of one of the biggest groups present in the Polish parliament. Polish politicians are thrilled by the level of Mexico's economic growth and by its suppression of useless social rights standards. They're afraid of the European Union, "bureaucratic" and guaranteeing too high salaries. The unique and universal rule of NAFTA is: "business as usual" and Polish politicians will insist on its implementation in the European Union. Recently, our left-wing government created a new job, the spokesperson for foreign investors, with the goal of unifying the goals of multinational corporations and those of government. Since, according to this spokesperson, these interests had not previously been sufficiently taken into consideration.

The representatives of the Polish government in the European Convention want to promote neoliberal transformations in Europe. They would like European standards to be "optional" and not "obligatory". Thanks to that, Poland will be able to become the "European Mexico" with thousands of maquiladores and negatively influence the living conditions of the Greeks and the French. Our politicians will defend the idea of the Polish average salary of 140 euros and won't permit either the French, the Swedes or any other nation to impose their own standards. On the contrary, our politicians will gladly pull the others down to ours. Despite the threat of the NAFTA option, Poland will probably accede to the EU. Our government just extended the length of the accession referendum to 2 days, ignoring the fact that there's 20% unemployment in Poland. This "luxury" will cost taxpayers 16 million dollars. In addition, the government has invested millions in primitive pro-European propaganda, not leaving a cent for EU
opponents.

Today, TV stars smile from billboards in all Polish towns: "Yes, I'm European". Did you think, my dear friends, what the accession of "Poland, ill from neo-liberalism" (Bernard Margueritte, Le Monde Diplomatique) to Europe might mean for you? Maybe you're hoping for the victory of the progressive left? All the decisions listed above (purchase of the F-16's, Polish participation in the Iraqi aggression, opposition to decent economic standards in the European Convention) come from a government composed of the two left-wing parties in Poland. Just imagine what the situation would be with the liberal, pro-market right-wing in power! In Poland, there's no alternative among political parties. The "choice" is between "the war party" and neo-liberalism either overt or hidden.

The only hope lies in the activity of social movements. And these are extremely weak at the moment. Contrary to humble Cyprus, Poland is a highly populated country, which in the European Parliament will have as many votes as Spain. It will also obtain a position of EU Commissioner who will participate in European Union decisions. I can guarantee you that our present elites will do their utmost pour bring social rights standards in line with those presently effective in Mexico. As for foreign relations, our politicians will recommend that the Europeans deliver ourselves blindly to America. Given this situation, can activists struggling for a social Europe or for global justice do anything? Luckily, yes. Not all is lost.

Firstly, dear friends, look at this big country in the heart of Europe, look at its president and its prime minister. For all people fighting for global justice, these two fellows ought to inspire even greater disgust than for Aznar and Berlusconi.

Declare them "persona non grata" and protest against their visits to Brussels, to Athens or to Paris! Let our "red hawks" learn what social Europe thinks of their policies. Don't forget that Polish society is against the war and neo-liberalism. Demonstrate against the representatives of our government and not against the whole society. On this theme, let me remark that Chirac made a faux-pas. Rather than criticising the Polish government for its policy, opposite to the will of the people, he directly attacked the Poles, which led to a nationalist, anti-French reaction in Polish society, discrediting the peace movement. So please judge the actions of our government!

We would like to see in your declarations your opposition not only to the "aggression against Iraq by the United States, Great Britain and Australia", but to the "aggression against Iraq by the United States, Great Britain, Australia and Poland". Criticise the violation of international law not only by Bush and Blair, but also by president Kwasniewski and prime minister Blair. Our president, Mr Kwasniewski, named by George Robertson as a good candidate for succeeding him in the jobs of NATO secretary-general, as well as his colleague, Leszek Miller, count on your ignorance. They expect their crime to pass unnoticed, that all the criticisms fall on the leaders of the USA and Great Britain, so that they can discreetly lick up the tastiest of the tastiest oil.

Secondly, if you cooperate with political parties in Poland, with Polish trade unions or with religious organisations, ask their representatives to declare their opinion regarding the war in Iraq: did they protest against the aggression or did they support it? If you're a member of a political party associated with the Socialist International or the Social-Democrat International, check which Polish parties are members. Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (Left Democrat Alliance)? It's the government party, of which the leader, prime minister Miller, sent the army to Iraq and bought F-16's, lowered labour standards and created the job of government spokesperson for foreign investors. Unia Pracy (Work Union)? It's the second governing party, co-responsible for all the events listed above, of which the leader, the Infrastructure Minister, Marek Pol, carries out lobbying in Washington, in the interest of the Polish oil consortium. Could it be worth it to exclude and condemn these parties, who clearly have nothing to
do with the ideas of the democratic left?

If you belong to an organisation associated with the European Union Confederation, ask the unionists of the "NSZZ Solidarnosc" why they didn't declare themselves anti-war. If you have contacts with the Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Zwiazków Zawodowych (Polish Union of Unions), ask their members why, despite their anti-war declaration, they didn't participate in the demonstrations. Were they afraid of the left-wing government? If you have links with representatives of the Polish Church, ask them why the Polish Bishopry did not openly criticise the war in Iraq, despite the clear attitude of the Vatican. Were they afraid of the reactions of the neo-liberal press and businessmen?

Finally, realise that aid to citizens' organisations, few in number in Poland (which remains the biggest nest of neo-liberalism in Europe, "the Trojan Horse of America"), is in the interest of every German, Italian or Finnish unionist who wants to save his children from work in the maquiladores. Organisations in Poland protesting against neo-liberalism and the war are rare. Given the difficult conditions in our country, which has suffered the consequences of "shock therapy" applied by the IMF and the World Bank, these organisations often lack the means of paying rent or distributing pamphlets. Our movements would hope to receive real solidarity, not just declarations. Another world is possible, another Europe is possible, another Poland is possible!

The author is a member of the board of ATTAC Poland, an activist in the Citizens' Ecological Movement and a member of the artistic group "The White Rooks", and participates in anti-war demonstrations and street theatre. Contact: "Piotr Bielski"

In French:  http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=2580

In Polish:  http://www.lists.most.org.pl/archiwum/pfs/2003-May/000111.html