Poland's Leaders
Polish Leaders Lead Poland To Defeat At EU Summit
Warsaw, Poland 23 June 2007 Poland suffered a defeat at the European Union summit as its leaders chose to fight a battle that they could not win. To the damage of Poland and the Polish people, the Polish Government got only a hollow compromise and unnecessarily prompted anti-Polish passions and alienated foreign diplomats.
Going to the summit under the banner of square root or die, Poland's leaders left no room for either them or European leaders to compromise. They went to the summit throwing their weight around, threatening a veto and looking for a fight rather than diplomatically looking for a way to solve a problem.
And when they got there, they showed that they did not have the courage to die. They finally caved in and accepted a hollow compromise.
Merkel hailed the settlement as a "good compromise". http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/070623034503.26w4n6bc.html
The compromise was in fact very good for the European Union. The European Union got exactly what it wanted. The only compromise was as to when it got it.
So rather than die, the Polish leaders accepted a way to try to save a little face.
Even so, some are quite frank in their assessment of what the Polish leaders really did.
Poland Bows to EU Vote Overhaul as Tensions Flare - Poland bowed to an overhaul of the European Union's decision-making system in a late concession at a tension-filled summit that reopened cracks between Europe's east and west and rich and poor. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVR9sTyFaFLM&refer=home Bloomberg
But they did have some effect.
The Western press heaped criticism on Poland from all quarters.
Reflecting the extremes taken by the Polish Government, the Western press returned the favor. Articles such as this one from the Guardian say a lot:
Poland's vote pleading is sheer hypocrisy - It was one of those "you couldn't make it up" days. Poland was demanding more votes in the running of the EU on the grounds that, if Germany hadn't murdered 6 million Poles, then the population would be almost double what it is today. One thing is clear: Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland's ultra nationalist president and prime minister respectively, have blasted "Don't mention the war" to smithereens.
Of course, it's quite understandable if Poland is still mourning its war dead, yet you can't help thinking: the nerve of those boys. Isn't there - how shall I put this Euro-politely? - a dash of audacity here? Hypocrisy even? Let's remember those 6 million dead: half of them were Jews - and the Polish record on Jews is just a mite troublesome. Those Polish Jews weren't exactly living in clover before the war, when the numerous clauses (Jewish quota) restricted their access to the professions. And when they were carted off to the camps, most of their Polish neighbour were at best indifferent, and at worst grateful.http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2109529,00.html The Guardian
The Kaczynski's, in their quest to destroy the elusive Uklad of agents, communists and business people, have established themselves as the agents of destruction. Now the work and efforts of previous administrations to build diplomatic networks and a positive impression of Poland were probably finally destroyed by the Polish leaders.
The standoff also reopened the split between the richer west and poorer ex-communist east that the bloc's 2004 expansion was meant to heal.
Bloomberg
The impression of the leaders themselves of course will probably continue on its downward trend.
How many people share the opinions of Finnish MEP Alexander Stubb who said "I have never heard a more stupid phrase than "square root or death"." http://www.pnb.pl Polish News Bulletin
And the BBC was very critical of their understanding of diplomacy.
Give-and-take is the essence of an EU summit. If a prime minister or president is communautaire he or she makes compromises that allow a deal to be reached for the common good - or at least for the sake of harmony.
The UK and the Netherlands, which have also come here armed with some tough demands know the rules of the game. An opt-out here and there, some changes of wording, a few genuine concessions on both sides, and a deal can be stitched together.
BBC
Poland went out of its way to reopen wounds of the past and destroy the sense of harmony that is so important to the EU. It will be subjected to criticism for that for long time to come. And for what result?
There will be many battles in the future in which Poland will need the of members of the European Union. But in the world of diplomacy what goes out comes around. Will Poland really be able to depend on people it chose to alienate?
Since 1989 Poland has established itself as a world player and an up and coming leader in Europe. That may now be just part of the historical record as its current leaders just lost an unwinable battle in a way that they should not have.
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