U.S. troops recently deployed to Poland because of the Russia-Ukraine tensions set up camp at a military airport in Mielec, southeastern Poland, on Feb. 12.Beata Zawrzel/The Associated Press
As Western countries try to show a united front against Russian aggression, Poland has become something of an awkward ally.
Poland’s governing coalition, led by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, is at odds with the European Union and human-rights organizations over what they see as the ruling party’s authoritarian style and long-standing attempts to undermine the country’s media, courts and democratic values.
The tension has become so intense that the EU has withheld around €36-billion, or $52-billion, in pandemic relief funding from Poland over concerns that the government’s judicial reforms will politicize judges. The EU has also said it will pursue Poland for up to €60-million in unpaid penalties for violations of environmental laws relating to the operation of a giant coal mine. And on Wednesday, the European Court of Justice will hand down a landmark ruling that could clear the way for the EU to slash its budgetary allotment for Poland for failing to abide by the bloc’s democratic standards.
It’s not just the EU that has issues with the PiS. After cozying up to then-president Donald Trump, Poland’s leadership has been decidedly cool toward U.S. President Joe Biden, and Polish state television has touted Mr. Trump’s election conspiracy theories. Also, much to the consternation of Berlin, Poland has been steadfast in its opposition to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany.
Ukrainians feeling abandoned by the West, as warnings about imminent Russian invasion multiply
Poland preparing for potential influx of Ukrainian refugees
But with Western allies desperate to appear unified in the face of Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border, Poland has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight as a vital NATO partner, mainly because of its proximity to Ukraine and its long-standing concerns about Russian expansionism.
World leaders have been flocking to Warsaw on an almost a daily basis and Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki have been included in strategy calls with Mr. Biden and other EU and G7 leaders.
During his recent phone call with Mr. Duda, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “underscored the remarkable co-operation between Canada and Poland,” according to a summary from the Prime Minister’s Office. When British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew in to Warsaw last week, he made a point of telling Mr. Morawiecki that “the U.K.’s commitment to Poland was unwavering.”
Mr. Biden has sent 5,000 additional troops to Poland while Britain has deployed an extra 350 soldiers. Canada has relocated 260 soldiers from Ukraine to Poland.
The attention hasn’t been lost on Poland’s leaders. During a trip to Brussels last week, Mr. Duda urged European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to resolve the EU’s many disputes with Poland for the sake of European solidarity. “Any arguments within the EU are a favour for the opponents of European unity,” Mr. Duda told reporters after the meeting. “We do not need this dispute. We are now in a difficult international situation.”
Mr. Morawiecki has also used his new-found global attention to lash out at European leaders for being weak on Russia. “Faced with a growing Russian threat, European governments have largely reacted passively,” Mr. Morawiecki wrote in an opinion piece published this week in London’s Daily Telegraph. “Leaders have lacked the courage or determination to cut business ties with the Kremlin. The noose is tightening around Europe’s neck, not Moscow’s.”
Tomasz Sawczuk, political editor for the Warsaw-based news magazine Kultura Liberalna, said that when it comes to Poland and its Western allies, “general strategic interests have prevailed.” He added that “even though the relations between the governments may not be very friendly, in the end we have common interests which are more important here. I would say that both sides need each other just as much.”
Mr. Sawczuk said the current co-operation between Poland and its allies won’t likely change the PiS’s fundamental outlook, which remains intensely nationalistic. “The kind of perception that they have is that there is a cultural crisis in the West which the West is too weak to respond to,” he said. “I think that the current government also believes that it’s good that NATO exists and that the West is unified. They just wish that it was unified on a different foundation.”
The PiS has made some concessions to its proposed judicial reforms and is now pushing to have them accepted by the EU. The government has also reached a settlement with the Czech Republic over environmental problems caused by the Turow coal mine, in southwest Poland, which the PiS has insisted should be enough to cancel the fines.
EU officials have welcomed the government’s compromises, but they have yet to say whether they’ll be enough.
Mr. Sawczuk believes the EU could yet budge in the interest of European harmony. “The EU is generally trying to avoid conflict whenever possible,” he said. “You can just easily imagine that if the current government shows some goodwill, then the EU will be ready to say that, ‘Maybe this is not perfect but in the end it’s not so bad.’”
But in a signal of just how fractious relations have become, some hard-liners in the Polish governing coalition have lashed out at Brussels for trying to force the government to back down on its court reforms. They argue the changes are needed to weed out corruption and inefficient communist-era procedures and they say the EU has no business interfering.
“The EU doesn’t care about rule of law,” said Zbigniew Ziobro, Poland’s Minister of Justice who also heads Solidarna Polska, a junior partner in the governing coalition. The EU’s actions are “just an excuse to force Poland by brutal economic blackmail to agree to the transformation of the EU into a federation managed from Brussels, and practically from Berlin.”
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